YOUR LONG, DARK TUNNEL

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:4 NIV)

Jesus will walk with you down your long, dark tunnel. At first even His presence may seem far away. But if you look, and feel, He is there. Right by your side you can feel Him standing there. Suppose you had to walk this path alone? But you don't -- He is actually there. You can talk with Him. Share your bitterness, your anger, your guilt. Tell Him how depressed you are. Tell Him how afraid of the darkness you are. Tell Him how lonely you are.

He provides courage in that dark tunnel life has forced you to walk...

While you may see no light at the end of your tunnel, you never know when the tunnel will curve. And right around that curve may burst the light of a great new day. You cannot see it from where you are right now, but it is there.

Then, too, every tunnel ends someplace. Otherwise it would just be a cave. And life is definitely not a cave for the Christian. Jesus verified that by His resurrection. Listen closely and you may hear His voice bidding you to quicken your pace.

I remember a time of tunnel walking years ago. The darkness was suffocating -- so dense I could feel it. No light at the end of my tunnel could be seen. I prayed -- or tried to -- but I couldn't seem to get through the ceiling. Sleep was impossible, so I went outside and walked around in the night. When I looked up, the stars were all there. Not one was missing. I thought surely there would not be one left, but I was wrong. And the God who put them there was also right where He had always been. The next morning the sun rose just as it had always done. The birds were singing, too. Not even they failed me. The day came when the tunnel took a sudden and unexpected turn. There was light -- lots of light. There were answers to prayers, too. It didn't happen overnight, but it did happen.

Your tunnel will have light at its end, faithful Christian. Just keep walking with Jesus.

-- Robert E. Maner, as quoted by Barbara Johnson in “So, Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy!”

#6181

IN THE SHEPHERD’S CARE

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:4 NKJV)

The Twenty-Third Psalm is familiar to many people because they’ve heard its comforting words recited at the funeral of a loved one. Though the rest of the psalm carries peaceful images of the Lord as a shepherd, green pastures, quiet streams, and an overflowing banquet table, verse 4 is the heart of the psalm and is one of the Bible’s most powerful truths to combat fear.

In the original Hebrew language, “the valley of the shadow of death” literally translates into “the valley of deep darkness.” Death is only one kind of “deep darkness.” There are many other dark times people fear to pass through, such as illness, unemployment, or rejection. The landscape of some valleys is not carved out of actual circumstances but out of fear itself. Being afraid of what misfortune the future may hold can keep you stuck in the darkness of depression and anxiety. It prevents you from walking through the valley to the other side.

The secret to alleviating fear is remembering that you never have to face your fears alone. Your Good Shepherd, the all-powerful God, is right there with you, rod and staff in hand. A shepherd uses a rod to protect his flock from predators. He uses the staff to guide stray sheep back onto the proper path. God figuratively uses these shepherding tools as He keeps you safe and headed in the right direction. By staying close to Him, you’ll discover comfort and courage close at hand when you find the struggles of life, and death, directly in your path.

At the first hint of fear, picture God as your loving shepherd, fighting off whatever you fear with His rod and nudging you closer to Him with His staff. 

– From “100 Favorite Bible Verses” 

#6146

AN “EVEN THOUGH” KIND OF FAITH

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:4 ESV)

God Almighty is with us.

No matter the troubles you’re walking through right now, the good news is not simply that God will help you. That’s not the whole message. The message is that God is with you. He’s with you in the sickness. He’s with you at the grave. He’s with you when the job opportunity doesn’t come through. He’s with you when you receive hard news. He’s with you in the chemo ward. He’s with you in the storm, and in the wind, and in the trial, and in the valley. God Almighty -- your Good Shepherd -- is right there in the midst of the difficulty with you. This is a game-changing revelation, and it shifts your prayer life. Because you don’t need to pray anymore, “God, I’m in a storm -- help me.” Instead, you pray, “God, I’m in a storm. Thank You for being in this storm with me. You’ve got my back. How are we going to get through this together?”

Peace and victory and freedom don’t come from sitting around wishing we didn’t have any problems or pain. No, the reality is that we all will be led through the valley of the shadow of death in some way, shape, or form. God promises in Psalm 23 that peace, victory, and freedom will come in the midst of problems, pain, and loss. That’s how we develop an “even though” kind of faith. We live by knowing that, in the midst of a broken world, God Almighty is with us. 

-- Louie Giglio in “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table”

#6127

GOD’S PRESENCE IN THE VALLEYS

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:4 NKJV)

With a heart cry to God, I have thanked Him that He is with me and knows the extent to which this frame can be bent, but not broken. I often need His resiliency in my life, so that the branches of my mind will not snap, when times come that make life difficult to bear.

Understanding the Psalms helps us see we no longer need to feel guilty for the impassioned feelings that sometimes sweep over us. When David wrote those masterpieces, he created a place of refuge for us to follow. Anyone suffering mental anguish could look to them and find comfort. He knew the deepest valleys and was not afraid to tell God the truth about himself.

If we were always on the mountaintop, we would miss what God would teach us in the valleys -- that even on days when we feel He is unreachable, He is there. It is at this time we have to rely completely on faith and say, “Lord, I do not feel Your presence with me, but I know that You are there and this wilderness is only temporary in my life.” 

-- Joan Winmill Brown in “The Shelter of His Wings: A Book of Hope and Comfort”

#5640

 

FACING PAIN

“Yes, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of anything, because You are with me. You have a walking stick with which to guide and one with which to help. These comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:4 NLV)

Scott Peck began a best-selling book with a sentence only three words long: "Life is difficult." Life starts difficult, when we're forcibly pushed from the warm, soothing womb into the cold, glaring lights, then turned upside down and smacked. Life ends difficult, when we're struck down by cancer, emphysema, stroke, or old age. And every day in between has some degree of difficulty.

So very early on, we learn to soothe our pain [in a variety of inappropriate ways. We try all sorts of things.]…

But the bottom line is, we still have pain, because life is difficult. And that "Spirituality is all about what you do with your pain." You can choose to medicate it, or you can face it in God's presence. One path stifles growth, the other promotes it.

-- Kevin A. Miller, from PreachingToday.com

#5258

GOD IS ACTIVE IN THE DARK

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”  (Luke 2:8-9)

When she was very young, one of my granddaughters became afraid of the dark. To fall asleep she needed a night-light in her room.

I wonder if you, like my granddaughter, are also afraid of the dark. Not the dark of night but the dark times in life, when pressures, problems, pain, and even persecution envelope us in a fog of confusion or depression… those spiritually dark times when God seems far away.

Please know that from the very beginning, God has been active in the dark. At the earliest dawn of creation, the Bible says, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering.” (Genesis 1:2)

If you are presently living in darkness… of a humanly hopeless situation… of death or disease or divorce… of fear or failure or frustration… of doubt or danger… of confusion or depression… be assured that God is with you. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” (Psalm 23:4 NIV)  God will change things, and He has a word for you.

God is active in the dark. Just ask the shepherds. 

-- Adapted from Anne Graham Lotz in “Fixing My Eyes on Jesus”

#5245

WHEN DARKNESS SEEMS OVERWHELMING

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”  (John 8:12 NLT)

Some time ago I read the story (Bob Woods in Pulpit Digest) of a couple who took their son, 11, and daughter, 7, to Carlsbad Caverns. As always, when the tour reached the deepest point in the cavern, the guide turned off all the lights to dramatize how completely dark and silent it is below the earth’s surface.

The little girl, suddenly enveloped in utter darkness, was frightened and began to cry. Immediately was heard the voice of the brother, “Don’t cry. Somebody here knows how to turn on the lights.”

In a real sense, that is the Gospel message: Light is available, even when darkness seems overwhelming.

There are many people these days who are feeling overwhelmed, who are struggling in the “dark”. They want to know how to turn on the light. As believers and followers of Jesus Christ we know the light source. And He says of us, “You are the light of the world... Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14a, 16)

Give someone a call today who might be struggling with the darkness of the Covid-19 isolation. When you shine your light into their darkness they will not just see you, they will see that Christ is with them. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” (Psalm 23:4a NIV)

-- David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry

#4837