Today’s devotion is based on the Message: Trust Revealed (Watch Here)
I don’t like haunted houses. I’ve been through a few in my lifetime and really have no desire to go through one again. Obviously, the purpose of a haunted house is to create fear in the visitor. The gruesome, the unexpected, and the evil depictions are somehow worth individuals paying money to go through.
In reflecting on these experiences, I asked, “Why would someone go through these?”
Perhaps it is facing fears of life and making dealing with the gruesome and terrifying easier?
Perhaps it is being able to laugh at that which wreaks havoc on life?
Perhaps it’s just the simple knowledge that all of this is fake and I will make it through the other side.
But what about when “haunted house” depictions become reality in our own lives? What happens when this isn’t a staged event for entertainment and it is reality in our lives that we must navigate?
It’s not easy.
Evil wreaks havoc on our world.
Tragedy instantaneously changes our world.
And sometimes we don’t know if we are going to make it out alive.
Psalm 23:4 is for such occasions in life.
4 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.
In a haunted house, you often want someone to go through it with you. You may hold their hand or simply stay close to have someone to rely on if things go wrong.
The Lord is MY shepherd which means he is walking through these haunted houses of life with you.
When you or a loved one get a medical diagnosis that is terminal…he is walking with you.
When you experience the loss of a loved one due to murder, drunk driving or some other evil…he is there with you.
When you are facing the challenge of mending a relationship, digging out of a financial hole, or the potential for job layoff, he is with you.
What this also means is the LORD is doing work on your behalf that you may never see. He uses the strength of his rod and the guidance of his staff to keep us from evil or keep evil from harming us.
The morning you are running late to work and forget your phone in the house may be your Good Shepherd delaying your departure to prevent you from getting in a serious car accident.
The day you read a devotion from the Word is the exact word of God you needed to overcome a temptation that could have cost you your job or your relationship.
The day you read these words from Psalm 23 is what you need as you watch or read the news to protect your heart from fear and lack of peace as you listen to what is going on in the world.
Because of sin, we live in a world that we often face the “valley of the shadow of death” or feel like it. But remember this verse…The Lord, YOUR shepherd, is with you!
Apply: What “valley” are you facing today? How can this verse give you courage to face that valley with confidence knowing that the Lord is with you?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being my shepherd that is willing to walk with me through the valleys and evils of this world with a promise to protect me from it. Help me to never forget this promise, AMEN.