“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For you are with me; for your rod and staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

I have come to realize that in this life, we will experience valleys. We will face many trials and tribulations. The truth about valleys is they are always subject to change.

We should find it pure joy when we fall into various trials because of the work that is happening within us. (James 1:1-2) Submitting to the work of the Lord amid the valleys causes our faith to be authentic. Sometimes we suffer grief or joy in all kinds of trials. These trials have come so that our faith will be greater than gold. (1 Peter 1:6-7) This kind of faith will result in praise and glory to Christ.

We are made perfect in weakness

The valleys we walk through will produce an aroma that is satisfying to the Lord.

Through tribulations, God uses them to perfect his purpose in us and through us. Suffering has a way of making us real and brings glory to God. These valleys have a way of making us merely beautiful.

Our trials have great purpose, even in the midst of great pain.

They can teach us how to walk out the Word of God we confess to believe. Our valleys can be places where the rubber meets the road causing us to put our faith into action. The Lord will use our valleys to teach us things beneficial for our growth and development of character if we are willing to trust Him through the pain of what we endure.

Walking means your are getting somewhere

Our key verse says, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; for your rod and staff, they comfort me.” The word “walk” indicates the steady advance of one which knows its road, identifies its end, resolves to follow the path, feels safe, and is therefore perfectly calm and composed. You see, we have to walk through the valleys. Despite the intense pain or the fear of the unknown, we have an opportunity set before us to trust God and walk through it. Allowing God full range to use what we are walking through for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).

We must us then trust our Shepherd’s care, and hearken to his voice.

Just walk, one step at a time

The enemy would love for us to buy into the lies that say we cannot bear to walk through this trial. He will bait us with fear, lies, confusion to get us to do anything but walk. Sound familiar?

The Word of God does not tell us to settle in the valley and give up. It does not say, “Hey, you won’t survive this trial, so go ahead and turn around.” It does not mean that we are to pitch a tent and camp out in the hardship. Quite the contrary. The living Word of God tells us to walk.

That is it, friend. Yes, just one step at a time.

It is surrendering to God one foot in front of the other as He leads us through the mess of it all. And it is so messy.

God walks with us

Do you know why we can walk through the valley of the shadow of death? Because God is with us. He is there through it all, ready to comfort us. God will not leave us in the middle of the valley.

We can walk this thing out if we are trusting the One who is in it with us. God shapes us for the great purposes for which He has created us. He has created you, all your gifts, all your talents, all your valleys, all your hills, all your mountain tops, and moments of descent. Eph. 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Him to do good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Today, if you find yourself in a valley, I encourage you to do one thing: just keep walking.