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; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
This is one of the most comforting verses in the bible. Basically it says that when I am walking in tough times, even to the point of death I will not fear because of the Lord’s protection. We get back to the rod and staff. The staff was a way for the shepherd to bring his sheep back to the fold if they started to wander off. The Lord everyday keeps us from wandering off.
We fear because we feel like we are alone. I guarantee you that if you were walking and you could see Jesus right beside you, speaking with you with His arm around you
NOTHING IN THIS WORLD THAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOU WOULD MATTER.
Now the church answer is that God is always with us by His Holy Spirit so we should not fear. Yes that is the right answer but that is too abstract for most of us to grasp. So how can we walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil?
As most of you have read in my past e mails I hate to camp. I hate the dark. I hate spiders and you show me a snake I am finished. But the Lord has used all these phobias for me to put my faith into practice. If we had everything we ever needed we wouldn’t need God. Left to ourselves we would flee. But God in His mercy will always give us something to keep out attention. It may be an illness, loss of a job or a child that is sick. I hear a number of people say that when this happens I will do ______________. You know what? In this life the timing is never right for anything. So stop postponing and just get started.
So how do we live without fear? First of all we have to truly understand and believe in our minds that God is not out to get us. Let me put it this way, He is out to get us but so He can hold and protect us not to harm us. But a lot of times when God gets close we flee. We flee because we don’t desire a deep relationship with our creator. We would rather have what we can see even if it is an imposter than waiting for the original. Heaven seems too far off and too unknown for us to have complete joy on this earth.
If you could get a glimpse of heaven you would never fear again. For most of us our deepest fear is death. We may have other fears in our life but none match the loneliness of the shadow of death. If you are a believer in Jesus the sting is taken out but there is still some trepidation upon going to a place that no one has seen. That is why we need to immerse ourselves in God’s word and pray each day. Then when the valley of the shadow of death passes by we will feel and know where we are going. We will know we are loved by God and that nothing bad will happen.
Today please pray that God would show you His calmness of Spirit. Please pray this with me. “Lord please forgive me for not living the life you have planned for me. I feel like I am existing instead of living. Lord I want joy in my life and I am tired of being fearful. Jesus I know you can create in me a pure, joyful heart. God please take all the pain and worry out of my body right now and replace that fear with your love. Please help me today Jesus to see that you are near me and that you love me.” Amen
It is better to tell God what is in your heart than to say everything is OK because it isn’t. We all struggle everyday. But God has promised us a new life in Him. Let us go from reading this devotional today and start to live a new life of joy and not fear. To give love and hope out and never be the one to steal peoples dreams. But remember you can not give what you do not have. So ask in abundance from Jesus and you will have the freedom to let go of the past and enjoy this new life that Jesus wants you to live.
Enjoy the day. God made it for YOU.
Brad
