Waiting... in tough times...

"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

Psalm 23:4

It can seem sometimes like we walk through that valley, can't it?  When we have grown numb to the gentle breeze of the Lord's kindness, and it seems as though there is no hope; when we seek but cannot seem to find; when we ask, but do not have, because we do not ask rightly.  It is in these times that we often feel (in our flesh) abandoned... but it is we who have abandoned Him.

You want to know a neat little truth, though?  He's still there.  And there is no reason to fear anything with Him near you, because there is no power under Heaven that He did not create!  He is able, more than we can ever know, to do anything.  Can you imagine what it would be like to be able to do anything?  Think about that for a second... GOD CAN DO ANYTHING!!!

I wrote about this verse once, asking the question, "How dark is the darkest valley" of my small group of young men that I teach.  I described it for them by asking that we sit in silence, in the dark, with no sound, until each person could hear their own heart beat.  It is in those darkness's in life that even our own positive self-affirmations of why we did such-and-such will not hold up.  In that darkness, one that you can feel and touch, there is nothing to allow one to lie, even to oneself.  It is terrifying to have that kind of solitude, where nothing can help and no one is there and every time the wind changes, it feels as loud as hurricane-force winds blowing past your ear.  Can you feel it?  You wouldn't even want to speak, for fear someone might be listening and hear you, and then where would you go in such a darkness, when you can see nothing?

But as we keep moving forward in the world, when we come to those times, we must remember that He is there!  He is present, and His truth surmounts all.  His truth is what will guide us through the valley, so that we may once again stand on the peak of the mountain and worship with all our might!  And, to further my original teaching on this verse, the Psalmist describes the Lord as a Shepherd, which would make us sheep.  And sheep operate solely on instinct, having no capability for rational thought... but knowing their shepherd, they go where he goes.  And we know our Shepherd, and He is with us, and that means we can trust this path!

I am not in a valley this morning, but I have been in some in my life, and I have been guilty of not praising His presence.  Today, after the encouragement I have received from some in my current endeavors, and with the presence of God more real than ever in this precise location and moment for me, I encourage you to praise Him for being there... because whether you believe it or not, He is there!  And seeing is not believing, friends; believing is seeing!  And when you believe on Him, and He moves through your heart with a wave of peace to remind you of just how powerful He is, you will feel so blessed.  So today, for each of you, I offer encouragement for you to find that moment, and believe upon Him and Him alone for all things and honor the Lord is doing so!

God bless you all!!!