Psalm 23
The Lord
is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in
green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He
restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence
of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord for ever.
Everyone
walks through a valley at some point in their lives, maybe several “valley
experiences”. I have ventured that way before on the mission field. But this
valley experience of chronic pain seems a lot different. But as I go, I am
learning new things. The message I keep hearing is: “God is teaching, strengthening
and empowering you. You must allow your faith to grow stronger.”
One way that
my faith grows is by not fearing evil. Fear is not of God. I will be honest; I
have feared the severe “migraine-type” pain that pops up randomly. I have
experienced pain before, but nothing compared to this. I have concluded that I
must not dwell on the unknown but take comfort that the Lord’s rod and staff
are there to comfort me.
The rod is
used to fight off the wolves of danger. The wolf strikes to bite, but God
fights him off with the rod for me. That includes taking my thoughts captive. When
thoughts of fear fly, I compare them to the sharp teeth of a wolf aimed to
attack. I trust in the Lord to clear my thoughts of fear- that violent wolf
image. When I wonder off in this direction, His staff brings me back into his
arms of comfort. The rod fights for me and the staff reaches out to protect me-bringing
me back to Him. Thank you, my Great Shepherd!
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