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. Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)
Places of fear and darkness can’t keep out his strength and peace – Psalm 23 Series – Part 2
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4
God is in all things and through all things as Paul liked to say. He is good, he is love, he's reflected in creation, which as we discussed yesterday, can aid our restoration and sooth our souls.
But hang on, not all of nature, right? You and I know that there are horrific, tragic, disgusting, frightening things in creation. (like snakes and eels… HELLO). Why? I don’t know. Maybe the evil that is present in the world has a way of infecting nature as well as flesh and blood.
There are places I simply will not go. They frighten me and make me feel anything but safe. These places are dangerous and potentially life threatening. A dense forest at night, the beach during wild weather, a mountain side ready to burst with loose rocks, a river trying its hardest to win a Grand Prix. Dry wastelands that have never even heard of water much less kissed it on the lips. Eerie valleys devoid of noise and vegetation except for the dark line of trees not too far away that seem to be alive with eyes. I think of the cross I see staked by the road on my drive to school marking the spot where someone’s boy was killed in a car accident. I think of the beach ten minutes up the road where a man in his fifties drowned last summer. My brother ran for help while someone else administered CPR, but they were both too late. I think of the fields upon fields upon fields soaked in blood all across the earth from the countless wars that have raged upon them. Too much blood. I think of bushfires, cyclones, volcanoes, swamps, floods… sometimes nature seems to be all too evil to host the grace of God.
Why is it that some days my local beach pulsates with the presence of God while the walking track to get there seems scary as hell?
David wrote,
“Lord, even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conquer me, for you already have! You remain close to me and lead me through it all the way. Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away my fear. I’ll never be lonely for you are near.”
Perhaps the more interesting question to ponder is not “Why is evil reflected in nature,” but “Is there any evil place that God can’t infiltrate?” Places of fear and darkness can’t keep out his strength and peace, or dethrone his authority. He seems to move into these places, occupying them in a transcendent way. God didn’t lift David out of the valley, he travelled through it with him. Together. Through the fear, through the pain… He will travel with you through whatever is gripping your life with terror. Those places are not too much for him, he was ‘built’ for them.
And there’s something about discovering God in these places that make them more sacred than seasons of peace. Finding God in ease and rest is reassuring and strengthening. But finding God in the midst of heartache and downright terror, on the brink of life, on the edge of sanity? Well, that is holy, sacred and miraculous.
Life has its own way of leading you to these places. So when you get there, and you will; when you look up from your life and find yourself in a dark valley, look for God, listen for the divine. He is with you in darkness just as he is in light. That I know for sure.
OVER TO YOU… leave us a comment below!
Go to Part 3 – Enemies, wine and presence »
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