The Rod and The Staff

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me"

I recently discovered that the rod and staff in psalm 23 signifies the word of God. Gods word is the only source of true and lasting comfort for our souls in trying times. This has been evident in my life for a while now.

I love the book of Psalms as a whole.

I love Psalm 23. 

What was going through David's mind as he wrote that Psalm? What kind of enemies did he have? Was he afraid for his life as I was at some point? Was he thinking about how God would deliver him from his enemies? What kind of "Valley of the shadow of death" did he have to go through? How was he able to say "I fear no evil?'

Since the beginning of this year, every single word in that particular Psalm has taken on a new and deeper meaning for me.

Let me share my brief experience in that Valley. The greatest enemy I had to fight was fear, oh there were bouts of depression and despair, but one I had to deal with constantly was fear. Fear that was lodged somewhere in the recess of my heart that no matter how hard I dug, I couldn't get to the root of it.

You are afraid you will lose your life in that Valley. You are afraid because you know that your life will never remain the same but you cannot place your finger on the kind of person you would be IF you eventually make it out of the Valley alive. You are afraid that maybe, just maybe God has deserted you and you are doing penance for all the sins you have committed. You are afraid of the wounds on your body and on your soul and wonder if you will truly recover from the experience. You are afraid of death. You are afraid of yourself, of your shadow, of your own voice.

This kind of fear just stays with you. You see it everywhere. A glance at the mirror show you the wounds that have refused to heal with time, the sharp pains in other parts of your body remind you that you still reside in the Valley, sleep gives you no respite either as your subconscious replays the series of events that landed you in the Valley.

The only place that fear doesn't accompany you to is that place called 'Goshen'

The only time I never felt fear was when I went into the word of God. Any time I tried to handle my fears on my own, I was defeated. Fear would come over me like a dark cloud, there were times I was afraid for my own sanity. So I packed up my suitcase and 'lived in the word'. The word of God was (and still is) my lifeline, I hung on to every single word God spoke to me like because my very existence depended it. 

Psalm 23 took on a whole new meaning for me. I had never understood the depth of that scripture until January 2015 and I have a feeling that I am still about to discover the true depth of that scripture.

I remember a quote that jumped at me when I read a book by Karen Kingsbury in 2014.

"Remember, when you cannot take another step, God will carry you."

The periods of my life that Jesus has had to carry me have been the best times of my life, because he covers me with so much grace and wraps me in a cocoon of his love.

I had never felt the presence of God so strong in my life as I did in January. I was by myself for the better part of last month and there were times I could literally feel the presence of God, his voice was so clear to me and I could hear him without any form of distraction. It got to a point that I would talk to God like he was just beside me as a person, we would 'gist' and talk about things, trivial as well as important. This went on for weeks and it was the best experience of my life.

Maybe, just maybe the dreaded 'Valley of the shadow of death' is not such a bad place to be.

Tough times will come - but let Jesus carry you, let him comfort you with his word. 

-Study the word, believe the word of God and everything God says to you. Drop all your worries and cares at the feet of Jesus and leave it there.

For every struggle, every fear, every challenge, every battle, every heartbreak, every pain we may feel and go through, God has a word to encourage and strengthen  us. He gives us his word and that word strengthens us. He plants his word in our hearts and that word heals us and delivers us from destruction. 

To everyone going through a 'Valley' experience,

Stay strong, there is always a light at the end of every tunnel.

Till next time,

Keep shinning,

xoxo.

James 1: 2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything