July 2013

Walking Through the Valley of the
Shadow of Death

I sit here today with a different perspective than I have ever known before. Most of us have heard at one time in our life the 23rd Psalm. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; they rod and they staff they comfort me.
⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

These past weeks I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death with my wife, Elaine.
On June 28th, 2013 Elaine was rushed from the doctor's office in an ambulance to the hospital for emergency surgery. It was a very serious situation that most do not survive. As they wheeled her to surgery we knew there was a good possibility she would not make it. The diagnosis was not good.
That day and a few following we walked through this valley of the shadow of death.
There in that valley was the reality of God's presence and power. And for the next days ahead God's Spirit was very real and comforting. It was a time of revelation and counsel from the Holy Spirit of God.
Elaine did make it through the surgery and has surprised all the doctors and nurses with the fact that she not only survived, but is recovering quicker and better than expected.
She came home from the hospital after 17 days on July 14th, 2013.

God is enough!

No matter what the valley may be that we must walk through, there is a God who does love us and cares about every detail of our lives.
There are many options we can choose to trust in, but there is only One who never fails.
2 Peter 1:3 says:
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness."

We have the choice of putting our trust in the pathetic pile of stuff we gather here on earth and hope it is enough, or we can choose to put our trust in the One who offers EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness.

As I have walked through this valley with my wife of 36 years I am keenly aware of how insufficient my little pathetic pile of stuff is, and I have been made more aware of how much I need God's EVERYTHING for life and Godliness.
My choice is to trust the One who holds all things in His hand.

My prayer for you is that you also will know Him, the God who is everything and offers everything to those who put their trust in Him.

***********************************

The board members of Haven of Hope Ministries have initiated a letter and proposal (click here to view) for Elaine and I as we walk this journey of recovery and challenges far greater than our little pile of resources. God has assured me that He wants to glorify Himself in all the challenges that we face during this time.
Please be in prayer for us as we look to God's EVERYTHING to meet every need we encounter.

Thank you for sharing in this journey with us as we all get to see what God is going to do.