“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”
Sometimes the world is a dark place. All of us struggle with times that could be described as shadows in our lives. They are usually related to events in our lives that cut deep into our emotional storehouses and push us to the limits of our supply. At those times we find ourselves looking around for some sign of light in our darkness. It even seems that God…our Good Shepherd, has left us alone. Our heart is heavy with sorrow and we, at our worst, feel that we are standing on the edge of the “shadow of death”.
As you think about Jesus and His long walk to the cross this season, we must remember that His journey was one filled with moments like that. How did He feel when the disciples were completely missing the point? Did He feel loneliness when He was the only one wanting to go to Jerusalem? How did He feel when the disciples all ran away in the garden? Where were His friends when He was going through the mock trial? When the prophet Isaiah described the Messiah (Jesus) He said,
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.” (Isaiah 53:3)
Jesus knew what it was like to go “through the valley and He knew what it was like to walk through the “valley of death”. He is the Good Shepherd. He has been there before and He knows how you are feeling…even at your lowest moments. One of those moments was on the nigth He was arrested when He was in the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples. He had taken Peter, James and John with Him a short distance from the others and He said,
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Mark 14:34)
The valley of the shadow of death. When things are so hard and even painful that our hearts ache under the load…The Shepherd is there. Not to lead us out of the valley, but to lead us through. Life has its’ share of suffering and loss. The shadow of death has made itself known in all of our lives one way or another. But, “even though I walk through…” the Good Shepherd is with us.