The Valley of Death

Saturday, February 25th, 2006

What a day… three Lord of the Rings Movies later, and I am excited… inspired. What was history becomes legend, which becomes myth… isn’t that so true with the bible? And when things looked the darkest, amazing things happened to bring about victory. At the darkest hour, God shined. And in the movie, things were very much the same.

Psalm 23 (TNIV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

(NIV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

(NIRV)
1 The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need. 2 He lets me lie down in fields of green grass. He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths for the honor of his name. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid. You are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff comfort me. 5 You prepare a feast for me right in front of my enemies. You pour oil on my head. My cup runs over. 6 I am sure that your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. And I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Now, many, if not all the characters within the story of LOTR, must have felt they were going through the “darkest valley, a valley of the shadow of death.” Bad guys are at every turn, people continually plotting against them, friends constantly touting their character and stealing whatever hope they may have. Problems come and problems go… God is with us, with me, everywhere I go… he follows me all the days of my life. It is written that there is no fear in faith, no fear in love. And when the valley of darkness shakes its head around, what am I going to do? As hard as it may seem, I need not be afraid. God is with me. And sometimes, that can be a huge dilemma. I am “used” to feeling fear. It is a natural response to me. I don’t like to hurt, I like to feel good. I like pleasurable sensations. Maybe it is because of my addictive nature, maybe it is because I am a slave to sin… maybe it is because I have a car or maybe it is because my bedroom window faces north… not at all sure, could be all of those things. It could also be none of them. Whatever the reason, when a pickle comes my way, I am apt to sweat instead of no fear at all. Most of the time, I guess I keep a cool head, but that is normally when I have zero clue at what I am really facing… when Las Vegas calls with the odds… I tend to be a little weary when I know the stakes are against me. The valley of death… I’ve been there, I have the T-shirt, I even have frequent flyer miles there… and the brochure is nothing like the real thing. An experience we can all live without, but without it, we can not truly appreciate the joys ahead. Johnny Out.