I stopped reading and just sat in silence. I still was a little blurry as to what this had to do with anything, so I just sat on the epiphany for a couple of days. This morning God explained the rest. He took me to Psalm 23 (which is the Word for my year) and had me slowly read it verse by verse. In verse 3 it says, "He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake." This verse made sense to me. He showed us a life through Jesus, (leading us) that we are to follow and obey so that He may get the glory. I understood that. But then verse 4 blew my mind. It says, "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." After reading this verse, I had to ask the question, why was I walking through the valley of the shadow of death? Then the Lord showed me, the valley of the shadow of death is part of the path of righteousness. WHAT?!? All of a sudden, though, it makes sense. It says, "Even though I walk... I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, FOR YOU ARE WITH ME." His rod and staff comforts us, because He is the one who led us into the valley, FOR HIS NAMES SAKE!
Forgive me for the capitals of excitement. Maybe you have already come to this conclusion and this is nothing new for you. But this was a very new idea for me, this truly blew my mind. I say all of this to ask, who are you following? Maybe life is easy for you and everything is going just peachy, might I suggest, then, that you aren't following the One? I don't know where you are. I know for me this past few weeks have been the valley. I would have liked to have blamed the devil and just moved on, but God has shown me different. He leads me through fire, that He may recieve glory. Well praise be to God! I'm comforted to know (and be reminded) that He is in control and leading my life. If your going through a valley, keep your eyes on Him. He not only will lead you in to it, but He will lead you out of it.

so so so amazing. thanks for posting this :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteThis has everything to do with my life. I have chose to be apart of God's plan and it has taken me to that exact place: the valley of the shadow of death. I rejoice however that the Holy Spirit allows us to walk in love, peace, and joy despite all that surrounds us. Many Blessings!
From someone who has spent the last couple of weeks in a valley and is currently trying to climb out of it... thank you for sharing this!
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