Psalm 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;”
[At least one of the paths of righteousness you will lead me on, Lord, goes through this dark valley. It may be a time of dying to a desire, to my will, to a possession or it may be physical danger and sickness or death of a loved one or myself.
Whatever it is, I do not need to fear that evil will triumph.
There may be loss and suffering, but in the end, evil will not win because Jesus is already the Victor and I belong to Him.
Think of Paul in his shipwreck described in Acts 27. In the midst of a great storm there were days and nights of uncertainty where Paul was cold, wet and hungry; and then the smashing of the ship into a sandbar and everyone having to swim to shore through crashing surf.
There was evil: the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners, Paul included, so they couldn’t escape, but that was prevented. Then the viper bit Paul, but God protected him and no harm was done.
It was a dark valley, but in it, the witness of Paul shone brighter in his faith, in his declaration of God’s sovereignty, in his prediction (all possessions will be lost, all people will be saved), and in his being protected. Without that dark, the light would have not been seen so clearly.
Then Paul went on to heal and preach the gospel to people on the island–effectively because of his journey through the valley of the shadow of death, bringing him to those who had need.
When we are such a valley we can remember that God has a plan for this, just as He did with Paul. And because He is with us, and as with Paul, His rod and staff will protect us from what is truly evil for our God is Good, all the time.
Picture from the internet
