It’s usually the same every time. That same pain, that same confusion, that same hopelessness. It rarely changes even when there are months in between.
It’s usually different every time. Different time, different place, different reason. It rarely stays the same even when there are only hours in between.
We’ve all been there…the valley of the shadow of death. We all get there for different reasons, at different times, but always with the same feelings; pain, confusion and despair.
Sin is usually a factor, either by us or against us, but other things play into this valley as well. A death in our inner circle of family or friends, or uncontrollable circumstances such as disastrous weather or war.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. And I’m a little angry about it. My whole life I’ve been taught about this valley, and I feel now my whole life I’ve been taught wrong.
I’ve been taught, or at least indirectly it was insinuated, that Satan had control of that valley. That we were there because Satan led us there, and that we needed to get out of it as soon as possible; bypass it, climb out yourself, abandon all else and get out!
I struggle to find something I disagree with more at the moment.
While Satan certainly desires to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8) and he certainly has plans to drag us down in to that valley of the shadow of death and to keep us there; I reject, with the utmost fervor and ferocity I can muster, that he reigns over that valley.
God reigns over that valley equally as much as we believe He reigns over the mountain of the joy of salvation. We sing and quote Scripture that talks about how great God is, how He reigns, how He loves us and how He provides for us; why don’t we ever talk about how He disciplines us, how He sanctifies us and purifies us as gold in a fire. We gladly praise God for all the good He gives us, and eagerly give Satan all the credit for the bad things in our lives. Satan deserves no such credit, especially not so eagerly.
God reigns over the valley of the shadow of death. This phrase comes from Psalm 23.
1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4Even 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.
5You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
I’m sure you’ve heard or read or memorized or quoted this passage at least once in your life. It’s every where, coffee cups, t-shirts, banners, emails, flyers, etc. I feel as though I, at least I, have missed some amazing things from this passage though. For the rest of this I’ll speak for myself, but maybe it applies to you as well.
I usually read this passage and get fixed on the “valley of the shadow of death” part. ‘Cause I usually only read this verse when I’m there. I just want to go through and break it down a bit.
It starts off talking about how good God is, and how good His provision for us is. How He gives us good food, and good drink that restores our souls, and leads us in paths of righteousness. This is great to hear. But I believe this is where the problem comes in. I think I’ve been taught to make distinction between the “paths of righteousness” and the “valley of the shadow of death” as two different places. What if they are really the same?
It says that in the valley I will fear no evil for you are with me. To me that says He’s leading us still; even in the valley. It says His rod and His staff comfort me. Quick lesson on shepherding, the rod and the staff are for correction and discipline, typically these two things don’t conjure images of comfort; especially when I’m hurting or confused.
It then talks about how we will have victory in front of our enemies and rejoice with the Lord in heaven forever.
At first glace it looks like the three sections of this Scripture go: good things, BAD things, good things. I beg to differ (like on my knees begging). All three are GREAT things. The reason the middle one seems so bad is cause we don’t like discipline. But in view of the last section, the valley should really be called “The Valley of the Hope of Sanctification”. Because it’s in that valley, that God leads us into, that He corrects, convicts, disciplines, prunes, and ultimately sanctifies. It’s in the valley that we learn to become more like Jesus.
I need to pause here for a second to make a second but equally as important point. We need to change our perspective of Jesus. Too often I find people saying “Well he was God, so He had it easy”. Pardon me but YOU’RE WRONG. Jesus was most certainly fully God (John 1). But he was also fully human. He cried, He laughed, He hungered, He thirsted, He bleed and He died. He suffered His entire life, He was tempted, His friends betrayed and abandoned Him, His peers ridiculed, falsely accused, and tried to kill Him, He even had some prayers not answered the way He would have liked. That is why the writer of Hebrews says that we have a High Priest (Jesus) who can sympathize with us in EVERY way, some one who has suffered like us, lived like us (yet did not sin). (Hebrews 4:14-16) Isaiah says He was a man well acquainted with grief and suffering. (Isaiah 53:3). And it was all to set an example for us on how to and why we must suffer.
You see it is through suffering, it is through hardship and pain, it is through trials that we develop perseverance that leads to character which leads to hope. (Romans 5:4) It is on these “paths of righteousness” that we learn to be more like Jesus, because He walked them as well. And so as James says, we should take JOY in our suffering because we know that it makes us more mature so that we lack NOTHING. (James 1:2-4)
Suffering is real, and it hurts and I hate it just as much as the next guy. But I am learning to love it. Because I know now, what I wish I had known years ago, that in that valley of the shadow of death, I am being led by my Lord and God down paths of righteousness, and that I HAVE to go there, and I HAVE to endure the pain, because the only way for me to be more like Jesus is to walk the paths that He walked to their end. And when I stand on the other side, knowing that I ran the good race and I didn’t take the short cut or the easy way out, but that His mercy and goodness followed me all the way through, I can rejoice with the Lord as I live with Him in heaven forever.
That is how I can now call that valley The Vally of the Hope of Sanctification, because I know my God Reigns in that valley to the same extent that He Reigns over the joy of the mountain top and everywhere in between.
Let’s not run away from suffering anymore. Let’s not try to remove all the obstacles for the easiest possible route. Let’s rather endure. Let’s rather follow God down the paths of righteousness, that at points will go where we don’t want to be, but with our eyes fixed on the ultimate hope and joy of being made into the glorious image of Jesus, so that we can rejoice over our enemies with God in His house forever. (2 Corinthians 3:18)