Psalm 49:5-6 NIV
Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround
me.
As king David experienced at the time he wrote in
Psalm 23 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death, I will fear no evil”.. At this point in lives in our valley of the shadows, we experience hardship, confusion and frustration with almost everything we do even in our walk with God, where it seems as if we lack the things that make our hearts glad and content, we have to keep walking. We need to walk till we climb out of the valley.
Psalm 23 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death, I will fear no evil”.. At this point in lives in our valley of the shadows, we experience hardship, confusion and frustration with almost everything we do even in our walk with God, where it seems as if we lack the things that make our hearts glad and content, we have to keep walking. We need to walk till we climb out of the valley.
To walk means to be still, to stay calm, to persevere and
to wait on God. You wait for Him to move and then you follow as He demonstrated
with the people of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land in Exodus 13:21-22.
Christians who have been at this stage before will
recount how difficult this stage may have been. The countless number of times
they failed trying to climb out of their valley. They remember the
difficulties, hardships and times they were buried in so much guilt because
they felt inadequate.
We remember all our past defeats and tend to magnify ours
above every other person’s as if Christ didn’t go through the worst form of
persecution and shame. Not that it’s wrong to talk about our failures or
mistakes as sometimes this reminds us of how far God has brought us and to
encourage others to hold on. The problem is that, focusing on your past
failures robs you of the joy of your present victories. It takes your mind of
the fact that Christ walked with you through it all and you were given enough
grace to go through.
Because of this, when we have climbed out of our valley
of shadows to the mountain top, we feel like we have seen and been through it
all. But our journey doesn’t end there. We forget that we are likened to
eagles. For the bible says in
Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles…
A few facts about eagles:
With its powerful and graceful wings this large bird is a powerful bird of prey and a
symbol of courage, might and transcendence.
To conserve energy they flap their wings as little as possible. They rather glide
on thermal currents lifting them up high into the skies above most birds.
Eagles have excellent vision.
Eagles spend most of their lifetime on the highest mountain and tree tops and
seldom descend unto the ground except to hunt.
So like the eagle, after you have climbed out of your
valley of the shadow of pain, rejection, struggles, confusion, uncertainties,
hardship, depression, failure, low self esteem, sickness, hopelessness, poverty
and death, now you have to spread your wings, hop off the ground and soar. But
most of us don’t. After going through all the former challenges, we feel exhausted and drained and don’t think we have the energy for lift off. forgetting that the bible says in
Nehemiah 8:10 “…
do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength”.
It is not our strength but the strength of Jesus that
would carry us through. Most Christians get stuck at this stage. You have
gained your salvation, walked through the valley of the shadows of trials and
affliction. You have tasted victory, but now you fail to march on, to climb up
and flap those wings tirelessly? NO, stretch those broad powerful wings, align
your strong talons with feet that have walked through fire, journeyed on thorny
paths, feet that show scars of bruises suffered and now healed, with eyes
opened to a new vision, gaze into the skies, the heavens where you’ve always
belonged, take a leap and soar.
Instead with time, we allow the pleasures of life and the
pressure of self and society to dominate us. Even though we have been
translated from darkness into light, we are transformed into something maybe
great, but truly less than what we ought to be. We become low flying birds. Yes beautiful but still low flying; some
robins, kingfishers, doves, pigeon’s etc. birds that expend all their energy in
flapping their wings during flight just to move from one level to another. No
matter the amount of effort you invest in yourself, you are unable to reach
your destined height because it’s all SELF. You might fulfill everyone’s
expectation of you, even your own self expectations but deep down in you there
is a feeling of discontent and inadequacy robbing you of the peace attached to your
life’s purpose. And from this low height, you are unable to see the beauty of
all things around you even the tests you go through. Unlike the eagle which
whiles riding effortlessly on high altitude winds with its excellent vision is
able to see clearly and appreciate the beauty of the land below. And when you
are up there where you belong, it doesn’t matter what circumstances you find
yourself in, you’ll always see something to be grateful to God for.
God bless.
