“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me … ” (Psalm 23:4, NJKV).
Have you ever experienced a time when everything was going “just right” for you? Then suddenly, for no apparent reason and without warning, it seemed that the tables turned, and everything started going wrong. Perhaps you were involved in an automobile accident on the day your insurance expired, or you found you were without employment. Possibly, you woke up in the hospital and you realized that you would have days or weeks of recovery, and you hadn’t planned on any of that. Whenever misfortune strikes, the question usually rises, “Why? Why did it have to happen? Why did God let it happen to me?” We always want an answer to explain the difficulties that come.
For more than 2,000 years, the Bible, God’s Word, has served as a guide to life. It’s a textbook on life; it stands the test of time. One of the oldest books in the Bible is the Book of Job, and it seems only fitting that this book should deal with one of the oldest problems of humanity—the problem of suffering. Job faced a crisis of suffering in life—it seemed there was no apparent reason for his calamity. At first, he searched about for an answer, but found none. It seemed as though he walked alone through a dark valley, but in time, Job came to realize there is an answer to the problems of life.
The Word of God does give us some insight into the problem of suffering. Sometimes, God allows us to walk through the valley of suffering so we slow down enough to take stock of our lives. Instead of being “laid up by illness,” it becomes “called aside for stillness.” Hours of convalescing give you time you need to get away from the problems and think through what life is all about. It’s in the hour of need that your faith becomes intensely personal and practical. Altogether too often, man responds to the resonate tones of a pipe organ, or the delicate hues of stained glass windows, but when those are gone, he must face life realistically and come to grips with its problems.
Jesus came to put faith in our hearts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to take it out of the cathedral and put it into the workplace. Jesus knew what it was to hunger and thirst, to face the suffering of physical discomfort, the loneliness of being forsaken by His friends, even the agony of facing death alone. He was human—very human.
Paul tells us, “God made him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He broke the power of death and took away its sting and fear. He rose from the grave so that faith might live and triumph in our hearts.
It may well be you’re going through a dark hour right now so that you can experience that God is there and that He is enough. King George of England faced life with a speech impediment. He spoke deliberately and sometimes with great difficulty. In a particularly dark hour during World War 2, he went before the British Parliament and spoke these words that have inspired faith and courage to countless millions: “I WOULD RATHER WALK IN THE DARK WITH GOD THAN WALK IN THE LIGHT OF MEN.” What a spirit of victory! Walking with God at times is lonely. But when you are willing to extend your hand to Him and walk with Him through a dark hour, you will find He will meet you and take you up on the other side.
Never hesitate to turn to Him for grace and strength. Then we can say with David, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me … ” (Psalm 23:4, NJK).
Resource reading: Psalm 23.
