The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me.  

You have been on the trail for a while. The journey has been good, a few bumps along the way, but nothing that has taken you off the path. Ahead you see the rise of mountains. But you have nothing to fear. The sun is on your back and you have a song on your lips.

Your companion has been with you the entire time. When you have stumbled he has picked you up. Sometimes you have had to lean heavily on him but he has never left your side.

Slowly, without warning, a shadow covers the sun. A cold breeze whispers across your face. You notice for the first time the path ahead seems covered by brush. You continue forward but reach for your companions hand. You enter the valley.

At first the darkness is manageable. After minute your eyes have adjusted and you can see the path ahead. Your companion is still there right beside you, holding your hand. But as you keep going the darkness envelopes you, you stumble, your hand rips away and you lay on the ground all alone. You cry out and your voice echoes off the canyon walls. Where did your companion go? He was just here. You reach out and feel the empty space all around you. Did he leave? Just when you needed him most he has abandoned you. You become angry. Fine, you think, I’ll do this myself. You get to your feet. Realizing that you can no longer see the path you place a hand on the wall. You feel the rocks and roots jutting out. As you journey your hand is scraped. Cut and bleeding you continue, hoping that you will see some light just ahead. As you walk branches that feel like hands keep reaching for you. You slap them away.

You begin to hope that you will encounter others. You have before and they have always been encouraging and helpful. Then a pinpoint of light comes into your view. It gets bigger as you come closer. You discover it is a lantern. A guide stands holding the lamp. You greet the guide. So happy to finally have some help. The guide starts to walk with you as you talk you notice that he is not saying anything. Finally, he turns to you and you notice the gleam in his eye. You take your next step and he sticks his foot out and trips you. Your laying on the ground, he extinguishes the lamp. Kneeling next to you he whispers in your ear, “you deserve to be here. It’s no wonder your companion left you. You didn’t actually believe him when he said he would never leave. You should have tried harder. You are worthless.” You feel more then see this guide leave. Alone again you replay the words in your mind. Slowly they sink into your heart. He’s right, you think, I never should have believed him. After all what did I really know about him? I should have just relied on myself.”

You walk on. Now your hand is bleeding, your pants are torn, legs scraped up. In your mind you rail against everyone who ever left you. You stumble again and this time you begin to sob. You determine that you will just lay here. You are too tired to continue on. You look around you and think, so this is it. You put your head down and drift off to sleep.

You waken to the feeling of being carried. The darkness still surrounds you but you know you are not alone. You rest. You know your companion has returned. “Where did you go? Why did you leave me?” “I’ve been here the whole time. I never left. I reached out to you but you slapped my hand away. I was there the whole time.” “But when I meet the guide, you let him do and say those horrible things.” “But you didn’t have to accept his assistance and you didn’t have to believe his words.”

Before long the darkness is lightened and you see the sunshine. The coldness of the valley is replaced with the warmth of the sun. The cannon replaced by a meadow and cooling spring. You look back and see the darkness. Though you have come through you still remember the feelings. You look ahead and the path seems smooth again. But are those mountains on the horizon?

Whatever has brought you to the valley, your choices, others choices or just life, our Father will be there with us. We are not alone. At times it may seem like we are. We  listen to the lies of our enemy. We begin to doubt  the goodness of God. But the Character of God does not change. In psalms David calls the Lord our Sheppard. Thousands of years later Jesus says I am the good Sheppard. He loves us. The valley may be dark but Jesus is with us.