Today's Devotional Thought
March 16, 2010 by Wendy Foreman
Praying Through the Valley
I did several devotionals on the 23rd Psalm a few months back, but today I am looking at this verse a little differently.
My parents lost 2 friends in the last 7 months and they were both very dear to them. I knew them as well and I felt sad when they passed, but knew they both had gone on to be with the Lord. They were both wonderful Christians and served the Lord faithfully in their lives.
As I read today’s verse, I thought of their spouses. When you lose someone that you love so dearly, the pain is indescribable and I am sure doesn’t go away. Your whole life changes and you feel lonely and lost. How do you pray? Are you angry with God for taking them from you? Do you continue on or do you give up?
After I thought of the loss of a loved one, I thought of any devastation that we might experience. Maybe it is an illness we are faced with that could possibly change our way of life. Maybe it’s the loss of a job. There are so many different things that could come into our lives and leave us standing in what seems like our darkest valley. Eight years ago we found ourselves pregnant with our 2nd child. We were so excited and within a few days had planned out the child’s whole life it seemed. We were picking out names and I know I was dreaming of what they might look like or if they would be funny or athletic. We were so excited it was like a new beginning. A few weeks into the pregnancy I knew something wasn’t right. I started spotting and before too long I went to the hospital only to have confirmed my worst nightmare. I had lost the baby. The loss was so difficult. I felt like no one understood how bad it hurt. People made some pretty insensitive comments. I felt alone at that time and it seemed like my life stopped and everyone else’s kept on going. I would be out shopping and see all these pregnant women or these new moms. They would be laughing and enjoying their life and they should have been but it made me so angry. Nobody cared, at least that is what I was thinking and that is what I was feeling.
Are you feeling like that today? Are you standing at work, in your house, at your church or in Wal-mart screaming because you are in pain and it seems like no one cares? Do you feel like you are walking through your darkest valley? Psalm 23 is all about the valleys we go through and how our Shepherd is there to protect us and help us. I don’t understand why we go through some of the valleys we go through. I do know that in some of the ones I’ve been through, when I look back, I see the growth I experienced and the way the Lord used it to strengthen me and I also see how that experience can be used to help others. You’re really not alone today. Don’t be afraid in your darkest valley; the Lord is there and He will never leave you! I know it hurts and you feel alone and it is sometimes so hard to hold on to Jesus. But friends, He is the only one who can carry you through the valley.
December