Sheep walking through the valley 

“Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness, I will not be afraid because you are with me. Your rod and your staff—they comfort me” Psalm 23:4. (ISV)

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We lost power in the middle of the night once when there was no moonlight. Since we live away from the center of town, there isn’t much light coming from outside. I have never experienced such deep darkness before. I could see absolutely nothing.  The kids were all little, and they were terrified. So we came to them first, and then searched for flashlights.  As soon as we were with the kids, they calmed right down.  They didn’t like the dark but they weren’t terrified like they had been when they were alone in it. 

Nobody likes going into the “deepest darkness” as the GNT puts it.  Most people prefer to be on the mountain top, loving life, enjoying the view.  But if there were only mountains, then the landscape is not high, it is flat. There is nothing higher than where you already are. And nothing lower. So you never learn to climb.  

Sea turtles need to climb through the sand to get to the water. The climbing is what gives them the strength they will need to swim once they reach the water.  Without that experience, they would not survive.

 We need to learn to climb too.

We need the valley to learn life giving lessons so we can enjoy the mountain.  And to get out of the valley, we have to climb hard and long up dangerous pathways to get to higher ground, hoping we won’t be lost, or eaten by carnivorous critters like bears and wolves. 

But we are never alone. The Great Shepherd is guiding us, protecting us.

Sheep have a lot of dangers in a valley as well. Besides being eaten by wild animals, they can get lost, injured, stuck, or fall over and not be able to get back up on their own (and therefore die). Because of this, the shepherd is very attentive and is always looking out for his sheep. He calls them back when they start to wander, and may use his rod to gently guide them back to the herd.  He notices when one slips away and goes out to find the missing sheep. If a sheep has fallen over, the shepherd will help to get him back on his feet. If he is stuck, the shepherd will use his hooked staff to wrap around him and pull him up. He  keeps watch for wolves and protects the sheep by using his rod to defend against wolves and drive them away.  

The shepherd is fully equipped with everything needed to safely get them through the valley. 

When we are in a valley, we are in it with our shepherd, Jesus. 

He guides and protects us. 

He pulls us out of the mud.

He rescues us from dangerous places.

He puts our feet on safe ground.

He protects us from evil.

He makes sure we make it through alright.

Be encouraged, my friend.  Our God is able to get you through this valley threatening death. He will never leave you or abandon you, and nothing can separate you from him.  (Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:38, Psalm 139:7-12) 

As much as God loves the sheep and the turtles, his love for you is the greatest of all. 

“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

— Psalm 77:11-12

Twenty-seven years ago, God did an amazing thing! Do you remember what it was for you?  For me, God brought to life Philippians 3:13-14, inspiring me to persevere. I remember because it was one of those moments where I understood something so meaningful to me, that I wrote a poem to capture it.

God is constantly working in us and for us. Sometimes it’s like God takes out his extra-fluorescent highlighter and colors the event to make sure we see it.  You know if God is highlighting something, we need to pay attention and remember it. We need to capture it somehow so it doesn’t escape our fragile memories. “I will remember the deeds of the LORD;” Psalm 77:11

A favorite book of mine, Hinds Feet On High Places, by Hannah Hurnard, illustrates this beautifully.  In case you are not familiar, here are the tidbits of pertinent information:

The main character, Much-Afraid, lives in the Valley of Humiliation.  She is trying to reach the High Places but she is crippled and afraid. The Chief Shepherd invites her to come with him to the High Places, but to do that she needs to be healed and transformed. So the Shepherd promises her that he will help her develop hinds feet so she can live in the mountains.

All sort of things happen along the way to the High Places. Every time she encounters a hardship of some sort, she becomes fearful again, and cries out for the Shepherd to help her. He comes quickly to help, instruct and comfort her. She then builds an altar at that location to remember the promise or lesson she learned.  To remember this, she takes a leftover stone from the altar and saves it in a small pouch.  When she would feel lonely and hopeless, filled with doubts, she would look in the bag and remember each lesson she had learned; each promise given. Now encouraged and empowered, she embarks up the difficult and sometimes confusing path to the High Places.

There is something important about creating with our hands and building something tangible that we can carefully preserve:  a journal, a piece of prose, a poem, a piece of art, etc.  We need something to refer back to and strengthen our memory of these important moments.  Each creation we build or craft is like a stone from the altar. We can reflect back on the memories they stand for, and step up on those truths and promises as we meditate on them.

A real flesh and blood example of someone who recorded his pivotal moments is King David:

“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77:11-12

David sure had a lot of pivotal moments in his life, fighting giants and being hunted by a crazed King, and of course the whole incident with Bathsheba and Uriah.  And now all these years later, we have the blessing of his recorded memories and miracles in the Psalms!

When the days become difficult and full of disappointment, heartache or despair it can be difficult to recall these events on-demand under all that stress.  But we can easily remember to go to our “pouch of stones” and look at all the promises we have collected, all the times God spoke to us. We’d see all the answered prayers,  remember all the times that God pulled through for us.  And we’d remember how profoundly loved and well cared for we have been over all these years; another promise kept! We will be filled with courage to keep trusting, to keep going. Each stepping stone lifting us higher, making us stronger.

Our hinds feet are developing as we travel to the higher places with God.

We can stand firm on these promise-filled stones because we remember what He has done and we know that He is able, and He is good, loving and trustworthy to provide the very best for us.

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  Psalm 18:2”

Be encouraged today my friends: record your memories, collect your stones, and craft them into something you can hold on to.

Let Jesus lift you up and hold you strong!