Walking through the Valley
We can look at the problem or at the solution, even when the solution seems unclear.
We are all already so tired of this election, aren’t we? Polls tell us Harris is killing it, Trump is killing it, Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck, swing states are moving toward Harris, swing states are moving toward Trump…. The economy is slowing no wait it’s growing no wait it’s stagnant. Prices are coming down somewhat no wait…
Pay attention to all of this “information” and you’re likely to get whipsawed from one perspective to the next. Or else you’re likely to lock into the narrative that you like and discount all the rest, then argue with the idiot who disagrees with you.
It’s sort of useless, isn’t it? I remember back in 2015 when we almost lost a friendship dear to us because of politics. It took a lot of work to keep the friendship together, and, for my part, I seldom discuss politics any longer. The political situation has become for me but a backdrop for the drama of life and its central question: are you for God, or not?
The practical test of this question is whether you are giving in to your fears, or not. Most of our fears arise out of figments of our imagination or worst-case scenarios that we decide are true or should be treated as thought they were so that we can devise appropriate defenses against them — a course of action that is generally exhausting. Any leader knows that unless the fear is based in reality, upon incontrovertible facts, you go forward. Even when the facts are bad, you go forward. A Norwegian sea captain once said, at the engagement party of his niece, “I’m not a particularly religious man, but this much I know: when the storm comes, you point your bow into the waves or they will break your boat.” I heard him say this, and the integrity of his words and his life was and is a rock for his niece and for all of us who were privileged to hear him. He spoke those words now over 40 years ago, and I remember him, the room we were in, where he was standing and where I was sitting when he said them. Truth is truth, and when you hear it, you know it.
The 23rd Psalm tell us, “yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”. This phrase seems so timely right now. Where I now live, there are signs of new life — new construction starts along I-81 — but there are also signs of massive struggle by ordinary people just to hold on. If the stock market is not precarious, the general economy is. Jobs are hard to come by, a contractor recently told me, with people feigning to be busy both out of embarrassment and also to create demand for their services. Beyond the US, look at what’s happening in the world. There’s no need to dwell upon it or enumerate details, because
“I will fear no evil...”
The Psalm gives the reason why, but it’s good to detain ourselves for a moment. David is making a choice. He could indeed fear all the evil around him — snakes and scorpions on the ground, wild beasts prowling for prey, lack of water, lack of a place to take some rest. Yes indeed, he could whip himself into a frenzy, or a quiet hum, about everything that isn’t right, everything that threatens. There’s so much that is off, after all.
But he doesn’t.
Because “thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” David finds his comfort in the Lord’s presence. This suggests that the first task of life is to locate the Lord’s presence, to go where you are being called to go and to pay no heed to all the nonsense that surrounds us, besets us, or appears to be in the way. You may already know that the Lord is present; but knowing it and living in His presence are two altogether different things. Let me just say it this way: if you are not aware of His presence right now, as you read this piece, something is off. And, by the way, if He is telling you to put this article aside, that’s ok by me: yes, I want to be read; but the most important thing is that you and I are doing His will at all times; and to do it, we must know it; and to know it, we must know that He is with us, speaking to us, leading and guiding us to the eternal destiny He yearns for us to possess. In His presence is fullness of life and the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that the world cannot give and which gives us the stability to proceed apace despite all the nonsense.
That rod and staff… there was a time I really didn’t like that phrase, because my dad was a “spare the rod and spoil the child” type of guy. I figured the rod and the staff were for keeping me in line. After all, “whom the Lord loves, He chastens,” and isn’t it true that sometimes we wish He loved us less? The thing is, if we are docile, we can be kept in line without being clobbered, and the rod and staff are not just for keeping us in line. They beat off the enemies, throw off the snakes and scorpions, send the lions and wolves packing… when we let God do only what God can do. This generally requires a decision on our part to stop playing God. It doesn’t work when we try: never has and never will. What works is letting God do the things that only He can do, so that we can do the things he has given us to do. Then, when we act, we act with security and confidence and we truly fear no evil.
Does that mean that if you are living fear as you move forward, you are doing something wrong? Ask a soldier going into battle, or a business person about to make a major presentation or sales pitch, or an attorney defending an innocent person in a death-penalty case, or a kid in high school or college about to defend an unpopular position. Fear is part of life, for it warns of danger, real or imagined. The point is never to take counsel of your fear. Note it, acknowledge it, but do what must be done. If you don’t know what that is, then what must be done is figuring that out. Otherwise you will indeed be throwing stones at wild animals and dancing around scorpions and snakes instead of moving forward.
Remember Peter on the water? It was Peter in the midst of a hair-raising, nerve-wracking, fearsome storm. As long as he looked upon the Lord, he was safe. As soon as he turned his eyes toward the problems, he sank.
Will you sink or will you float? That depends entirely upon your point of view. Are you looking at the problem or at the Lord? Look to Him, “do whatever He tells you,” as Mary told the stewards at the Wedding in Cana, and it’s not that all will be well: things will work out, sooner or later, in a stupefyingly, unexpectedly beautiful way.
“Put not your trust in rulers,” the Psalms tell us. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will make make straight your paths.” That’s Proverbs 3:6. An old European proverb reads that God writes straight with crooked lines. Follow the Good Shepherd, even if it seems you are going in circles. Then the rod and the staff will comfort you indeed, and you will find your head anointed with oil, your cup overflowing, with goodness and mercy following you all the days of your lives until you dwell in the house of the Lord forever.