And we are walking...

I had lunch with a good friend last week. She has been going through a difficult season in her life. You know... you can always tell the true character of a person when they are going through hard times in life. It was (and always has been) very clear to me that my friend fully relies on the strength of the Lord every moment of every day. She was telling me about a devotion she had read recently and when she brought it up it reminded me that I too had seen this before and had forgotten about it. I hope she doesn't mind, but I haven't stopped thinking about it since our conversation and well... I feel like this is something I need to write about.

Psalm 23:4 Even 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.

The devotion my friend read was Joel Osteen's. He is a great man of God and a much better writer then I am so bear with me as I give you my take.

Let's focus on the action word in this scripture... WALK. If I am in the valley of the shadow of death, I'm certainly not going to just hang out there and set up camp. I can promise you I am moving on as quickly as I can. But that isn't what a lot of us do. When we are in the valley, we just sit there and expect someone to come along and pick us up and get us out of there. Not happening my friends! You have to get up and get moving. God will help you get through the valley, but you have to put one foot in front of the other and start walking. This very same verse says that we will fear no evil because God will comfort us. So... What fear is keeping you in the valley? What has you so afraid that you can't even start walking? I can promise you this... It isn't anything the Lord can't help you overcome.