Day 26 | The Valley of the Shadow of Death – John

Psalm 23 does not pretend that life with the Shepherd is only green pastures and quiet waters. 

I wish it did. I wish following Jesus meant we could somehow bypass the dark places and that faith and obedience always kept us from grief, protecting us from darkness, depression, addiction, loss, criticism, loneliness, miscarriage, cancer, suicide, anxiety, and the kind of pain that sits so deeply in your chest you wonder if you will ever breathe normally again. 

David begins what is probably the most famous verse of the most famous portion of all of Scripture with simple truth, “Even though…” We are always tempted to move past pain, but David does not do this. He simply states that in spite of the pain, difficulties, and despair that we will experience in this lifetime, we need to remind ourselves that our Shepherd is still faithfully guiding us through paths that we would rather not travel down. The valley, while difficult and dark, is not a strange interruption to the life of faith. It is part of the path that God uses to develop you into the person He intentionally designed you to be. 

I don’t say that to overlook or bypass the valley because, if you are like me, you do not want to go through it and, if you are in one, you want it to end immediately. I have had to go through some dark valleys I never would have chosen for myself. Even though I am only 38 years old, there are parts of my story that still ache when touched. I know what it is to carry shame, be wounded by my own sin thoughts. I know what it is to lose people I love, to miss a face, a voice, a laugh, and a touch I cannot get back. I know what it is to watch dreams die, to leave places that gave me life, to receive criticism that was true enough to hurt and sent my spinning deeper into the darkness, and to sit there wondering if life would ever feel light again. 

I’m sure you’ve gone through things just as painful and dark. Valleys seem to be universally shared experiences and according to Tim Keller, who was a popular pastor who recently lost his battle with cancer, are “at the heart of the Christian story.”[1] It unfortunately, but it seems to be the megaphone God “uses to rouse a deaf world to Him.”[2] After losing his wife, C.S. Lewis famously wrote those words because he observed that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains…”[3]

If you are in a dark valley right now, or when you get to one in the future, remember that God is close to you because He is your Shepherd, and you can turn to him just as David models in Psalm 23. Leading up to verse 4, David, whom we must remember is just a sheep like us, is almost speaking about the Shepherd as if He isn’t even there. Almost like he is talking to a fellow sheep from another flock. But when the valley comes into view, David begins to use personal pronouns, “I” and “You” which highlight the fact that our Shepherd is personally invested and present in the lives of His sheep and that we can personally go to Him with our fears, pain, and anxiety amid any valley we find ourselves in. 

This verse shows us that valleys will happen and when they do, we have a personally involved Shepherd who is guiding us and using our pain for our ultimately good (Romans 8:28). But I want to remind you, like David is doing for us all, that even though valleys are a reality we must all face, they are not pointless painful experiences. If you pay close attention, you can gain tremendous blessings and benefits by enduring the valley you are in (or will be in someday). This is because valleys can help shape our spiritual awareness, increase our dependence on our Shepherd, produce perseverance and develop Christlike character within us, and become the source of our compassion that we use to serve and minister to fellow valley travelers.

In one sense, our Shepherd does this for us even. Jesus, the Son of God, willfully left the glories and comforts of Heaven to limit himself for a time to walk through the darkest of all valleys for our salvation. It is Jesus, our Good Shepherd, who chose to become our Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53) so that we can proudly proclaim that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15).  

I don’t know what you are going through, or what you will one day experience, but I do want to encourage you to not waste your pain, to not fear the valley, but to know that your Shepherd is present, He has a plan, and that “there is a purpose to [your valley], and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power that you can imagine.”[4]

REFLECT

What valley are you walking through right now, or what valley from your past still shapes you today? 

Are you trying to rush out of this painful place before asking what God may be forming in you through it? 

What honest prayer do you need to pray to the Shepherd today? 

PRAYER

Jesus, you are my Shepherd, even in the valley. I confess that I want to move quickly past pain, grief, uncertainty, and fear. I want relief more than formation. I want answers more than dependence. But You are with me in the dark, and You do not waste what I surrender to You. Teach me to trust You here. Form perseverance, character, hope, compassion, and deeper dependence in me. Help me stop pretending I am okay and start talking honestly to You. Amen. 

TAKE ACTION TODAY

Take five quiet minutes today and name your valley before God. 

Do not explain it away. Do not minimize it. Do not rush to fix it. Simply pray: 

“Jesus, this is the valley I am in: ________. Be with me here. Form me here. Teach me to follow You here.” 

if your valley feels too dark to walk alone, tell one trusted person today. Call, text, or sit down with someone who loves Jesus and loves you. Sheep were never meant to walk through valleys alone.