Trusting Him in Every Valley
#327 Trusting Him in Every Valley Psalm 23.4
The experience with my Dad continues as his times of lucidity decrease and he is more often in another world of distress. The challenge for me is to accept the Cup that the Father has poured for him. A dear sister who is dealing with her own struggles with cancer made this comment:
I don't know what is in the cup...but trusting the one who pours it is soooo much better than knowing what is in it.
AMEN!
Sometimes my Dad mumbles and hits himself in the head. I am so sad to know how often he is this confused and upset. I pray that in His time and way our Heavenly Father will enfold him with a sense of His love for him and His presence with him.
“Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
I fear no harm, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 Tenakh
Whether we sense it or whether we know it purely by conviction, or in the case of Alzheimer’s when there is no ability to call to mind the truth of this conviction, HE IS STILL WITH US.
I can rest in the fact that in the times my Dad is unable to call to mind this fact, it is still true.
The rod was what he relied on to safeguard both himself and his flock in danger. And it was, furthermore, the instrument he used to discipline and correct any wayward sheep that insisted on wandering away.
Whereas the rod conveys the concept of authority, of power, of discipline, of defense against danger, the word "staff" speaks of all that is longsuffering and kind....the staff is used by the shepherd to reach out and catch individual sheep, young or old, and draw them close to himself for intimate examination. The staff is very useful this way for the shy and timid sheep normally tend to keep at a distance from the shepherd.
The staff is also used for guiding sheep. Again and again I have seen a shepherd use his staff to guide his sheep gently into a new path or through some gate or along dangerous, difficult routes. He does not use it actually to beat the beast. Rather, the tip of the long slender stick is laid gently against the animal's side and the pressure applied guides the sheep in the way the owner wants it to go. Thus the sheep is reassured of its proper path.
Being stubborn creatures sheep often get into the most ridiculous and preposterous dilemmas. I have seen my own sheep, greedy for one more mouthful of green grass, climb down steep cliffs where they slipped and fell into the sea. Only my long shepherd's staff could lift them out of the water back onto solid ground. From: A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller
We are walking through the valley.
It is a step by step journey, and He is with us in each next step.
Through any valley of darkness, overshadowed by sin and death,
may we fear no challenging circumstance,
knowing, sensing, trusting,
and claiming by pure faith when no emotions agrees,
that He is with us.
The experience with my Dad continues as his times of lucidity decrease and he is more often in another world of distress. The challenge for me is to accept the Cup that the Father has poured for him. A dear sister who is dealing with her own struggles with cancer made this comment:
I don't know what is in the cup...but trusting the one who pours it is soooo much better than knowing what is in it.
AMEN!
Sometimes my Dad mumbles and hits himself in the head. I am so sad to know how often he is this confused and upset. I pray that in His time and way our Heavenly Father will enfold him with a sense of His love for him and His presence with him.
“Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
I fear no harm, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 Tenakh
Whether we sense it or whether we know it purely by conviction, or in the case of Alzheimer’s when there is no ability to call to mind the truth of this conviction, HE IS STILL WITH US.
I can rest in the fact that in the times my Dad is unable to call to mind this fact, it is still true.
The rod was what he relied on to safeguard both himself and his flock in danger. And it was, furthermore, the instrument he used to discipline and correct any wayward sheep that insisted on wandering away.
Whereas the rod conveys the concept of authority, of power, of discipline, of defense against danger, the word "staff" speaks of all that is longsuffering and kind....the staff is used by the shepherd to reach out and catch individual sheep, young or old, and draw them close to himself for intimate examination. The staff is very useful this way for the shy and timid sheep normally tend to keep at a distance from the shepherd.
The staff is also used for guiding sheep. Again and again I have seen a shepherd use his staff to guide his sheep gently into a new path or through some gate or along dangerous, difficult routes. He does not use it actually to beat the beast. Rather, the tip of the long slender stick is laid gently against the animal's side and the pressure applied guides the sheep in the way the owner wants it to go. Thus the sheep is reassured of its proper path.
Being stubborn creatures sheep often get into the most ridiculous and preposterous dilemmas. I have seen my own sheep, greedy for one more mouthful of green grass, climb down steep cliffs where they slipped and fell into the sea. Only my long shepherd's staff could lift them out of the water back onto solid ground. From: A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller
We are walking through the valley.
It is a step by step journey, and He is with us in each next step.
Through any valley of darkness, overshadowed by sin and death,
may we fear no challenging circumstance,
knowing, sensing, trusting,
and claiming by pure faith when no emotions agrees,
that He is with us.
