God with us - Week 8: Psalm 23:4
"The Lord is my shepherd,
I have all that I need."
Psalm 23:1
This is my Mum's favourite Bible verse, but it has to be the New Living Translation. It's her birthday today, which is why I made sure this Scripture landed this week.
Happy birthday, Mum!
This one verse takes me to a place of contentment.
I imagine myself somewhere like Castleton in the Peak District, which I regularly visited as a child. I'm sat on a bench after a steady climb to the top of the hill where Peverill Castle sits. It's a warm spring day, and the sky is blue. My Dad grabs my 99 and catches the ice cream drips before they fall, and Mum is asking if anyone is a bit chilly even though the sun is shining! I don't have a care in the world. Even my older brother and sister aren't getting on my nerves today. It's bliss!
We climb down the hill and pile back into the car. Following the youngest child's unwritten code, I am squidged firmly in the middle of the back seat between my brother and sister. There's no need for a seatbelt as it's the early eighties, and before the car has even started to move, nausea kicks in. Through all the winding roads on the way home, the sickness grows, and I feel hot, uncomfortable, trapped and desperately want to get out of the car. My Dad opens the window, ignoring the groans of my older siblings, and turns the fan on full blast so that there is air on my face (nope, no air con either!) Words of comfort like, "we'll be home soon love," closely follow the whisper, "please don't be sick in the car." By the time we reach Rivelin Valley, I am green with sickness just a few minutes from home.
All I want is to get out of the car.
Any feeling of contentment is long gone!
"Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me."
Psalm 23:4
If you've never suffered from travel sickness, then this may seem like a strange analogy. I'm also aware I've made this comparison in a previous blog. Still, that feeling of being trapped in a situation, knowing that the only option is to wait it out until you reach your destination, is precisely what a spiritual valley experience feels like to me.
I can hear the words of comfort from my Heavenly Father guiding me through the valley.
I keep looking up to see if we've moved further on in our journey and our final destination still seems so far away.
I stumble, take a moment and complain that I want to stop.
I need to breathe.
When will this end?
When will this part of the journey be over?
At that moment, God takes my hand, and one step at a time, we move forward together.
I don't know about you, but I've lived this valley experience. The one day at a time survival of a situation you desperately want to escape. You may be in your valley right now. You may feel sickened to the stomach, wondering if God is even there at all. I may not know your name, but I'll be praying for you throughout the coming week.
I always promise no neat bows in my blogs, but as I look back on my recent valley experience, the words of Psalm 23:4 held firm, and they can do the same for you.
So, thank you, Father,
That even when I walked through my darkest valley, you calmed my fears and stayed close beside me. You provided guidance when I couldn't see a way through. You protected me from the harsh words of others and the pain of the situation. You provided comfort when I felt despair.
Thank you for your goodness and mercy.
You're a good shepherd, and you are with me always.
Amen
May those of you who are in the depths of the valley feel God's presence with you this week.
Kay Moorby
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