By Bishop Jarod Cruthis
“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.” (Psalm 23:4)
One of the most exciting verses in all of Scripture, at least for me, is always viewed as a Psalm for the mourning. It is recited at the graveside for those who have passed on in hopes of giving comfort to those left behind…BUT, if you read verse four and read it well, you will see an exciting and prophetic promise. The psalmist states, and I paraphrase, although I am WALKING through a dark place where there seems to be no life, I will not be afraid for the Lord my God goes with me. You see the psalmist speaks of movement, not taking up permanent residence in the valley. He is not embracing the darkness and setting up camp. Quite the contrary. He is walking, moving, forging through a dark and difficult place knowing that God is with him and that he has all the weapons he needs. He has his rod and his staff and most importantly the presence of God.
How many times do we find ourselves in dark places…in the valley and just resign ourselves to embracing the darkness? It could be a financial issue, a bad report from the doctor, or even an situation that seems impossible. The key is this, how do we respond when we begin to walk through this valley? Do we stop or do we move forward? I say we keep our eyes on the prize and move forward knowing that on the other side of every valley there is a mountaintop. Even though we walk through our valley, and climbing that mountain is rough, what a view from the top it will be. You see once we get to the top of our mountain, the valley seems kind of small. It gives us a Heavenly perspective of what we can accomplish in this earthly realm. From one mountain you not only see the valley but you can also see the other mountains that you have conquered. God means for us to move from glory to glory, and it is by faith that we keep on moving. Remember faith produces greater faith, and with greater faith comes greater victories.
May our Great God help us to keep moving and never stall in the midst of our valley.