Through the darkness
This morning I tripped over a familiar passage from Psalm 23, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil for you are with me..." I tripped because I unconsciously added words not written in the translation I read. I added, Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil..." Turns out the Hebrew word immediately after "valley" in the original can be translated either, "death valley" or "dark valley". And yet I found myself glad that death wasn't added to my translation, not because I don't like the subject (nor do I like it either), but because it spoke to much of my reality. I face the unknown daily, tomorrow is darkness to me as it is to all of us. None of us can see past this moment. Death, while always a possibility for each of us, isn't always a subject we ponder...hopefully. And like all of us, there are times in life that I face the darkness of difficult times when it feels like hope is gone and darkness surrounds me. In that moment, whether wondering about tomorrow or trying to get through the darkness of difficulty, God is there.
God is there, not to dispel the darkness. We have to walk through the darkness...we move through it. The psalmist reminds us that God doesn't necessarily shed light on the path. What God does is protect us from the enemies that beset us in the darkness.
My son is now afraid of the dark. We didn't do anything to cause this fear by telling him monsters lurked in the closet or under his bed. One night after we had turned out the light in the hallway outside his room and darkness surrounded him, he said, "Daddy, I'm afraid of the shadows." His night light had been casting shadows on to the wall beside his bed. I reassured him that there was nothing to around that could hurt him, that he is safe, and if there is anything I would be there to protect him. He rested.
How much more for our lives? How many times do we express fear when "darkness" surrounds us, and God says, "No worries my child...I will fight for you." How many shadows have frightened us...images of what might happen, what could be, what we think is there but really isn't...when reality is that these shadows in the dark can do nothing to us? God is with us. We fear no evil...God's rod and staff to drive away enemies is used.
Thanks for reading.
God is there, not to dispel the darkness. We have to walk through the darkness...we move through it. The psalmist reminds us that God doesn't necessarily shed light on the path. What God does is protect us from the enemies that beset us in the darkness.
My son is now afraid of the dark. We didn't do anything to cause this fear by telling him monsters lurked in the closet or under his bed. One night after we had turned out the light in the hallway outside his room and darkness surrounded him, he said, "Daddy, I'm afraid of the shadows." His night light had been casting shadows on to the wall beside his bed. I reassured him that there was nothing to around that could hurt him, that he is safe, and if there is anything I would be there to protect him. He rested.
How much more for our lives? How many times do we express fear when "darkness" surrounds us, and God says, "No worries my child...I will fight for you." How many shadows have frightened us...images of what might happen, what could be, what we think is there but really isn't...when reality is that these shadows in the dark can do nothing to us? God is with us. We fear no evil...God's rod and staff to drive away enemies is used.
Thanks for reading.
posted by Mike Weaver at 9:41 AM
1 Comments:
I have had that fear most of my life. But my father was not the one who said that nothing could hurt me and that he would protect me. Infact he was my monster in the night. He was an alcoholic, and he abused me mental as well as physical. With his fist or belt or switch. and his words of steel. I was affraid of him and I dared not wake him in the night. I now pray that the lord is with me evry time I venture into darkness.
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