Even Though ...

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
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.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."  Psalm 23

I'd like to think that with God on my side the sun would shine everyday with just enough rainfall to sustain healthy life. I'd like to think that God's favour and His blessings would mean that I would live in bounty and not have a care in the world. I'd like to think that being a Christian was like having a genie in a bottle. But it's not!

God promises that the sun will shine on the just and the unjust. He promises rain for the just and the unjust. Being God's child does not, as a rule, put me outside of the natural. I may experience some miracles, but as a general principle I still function within the boundaries of a world infested with sin.

The psalmist realized this and captures it so well when he writes, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," David recognized that even God's chosen have experiences where they have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. One writer defined this as "the perils of life". The things which threaten my very existence. Even then, David says, "I will fear no evil". Even when I'm taken into the very dwelling place of that which seeks to destroy me, to take my life from me, I will not be afraid.

I won't be afraid because the LORD is my shepherd. His rod and His staff they comfort me. Oh to be in such a relationship with God that I could say that with confidence and boldness. To be able to recognize His rod and His staff as instruments of guidance and protection. To know with certainty that even though the shadow of death casts over me as I enter the valley, I have no cause for fear. To have that blessed assurance.

Oh LORD, I pray, draw me closer each day, that I may in confidence proclaim that I fear no evil. That even in the shadow, I see Your glorious light.