Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23:4-6

So, recently we’ve been having weekly volunteer orientations at Urban Resurrection to introduce our new volunteers to our organization’s core values, objectives and goals. A few weeks ago, we took them out on an evening prayer walk in our neighborhood and showed them a part of our beautifully dynamic community. Normally, we use a chunk of our time doing Lectio Divina (Latin for divine reading) which involves reading and meditating on scripture. This traditional Christian practice creates communion with God and increases one’s knowledge of His Word. It’s also refreshing hearing how God speaks to each of us as we go deep into scripture together and become more united with each other in the process of it.

When we take time to share how our lives have been for that past week and where each of us are at spiritually, there tends to be a correlatable theme. Last week, most of us connected on how we each desire to know His will for our gifting but have felt like the opportunities that were there for us to fully exercise them, are lacking. It’s a struggle when all you want is to live like your life is not our own but His. We know that He has given us those gifts for our use as stewards in order to glorify Him. So, the dilemma gets thick when you get to a point where you see yourself losing sense of direction and questioning the validity of your gifts or asking yourself “Is this even where I’m supposed to be.” Could it be that He needed to strip away the core of your foundation that we built on faulty ground in order for Him to reconstruct it? Or perhaps that He brought us to a place but only for a time because there’s a new season ahead that He is preparing us for? One thing is for certain, He is faithfully present in this entire process even if we can’t clearly hear Him or see Him leading us.

Looking back at Psalm 23, one can see the ideal depiction of how God operates as the Shepherd. Picture yourself standing in the midst of a dark vast valley, very dimly lit by the cloud covered moon. Then picture God placing His rod and staff on each side of your body. He prepares a table before you and anoints your head with oil, covering your top. Goodness and love are following you, maintaining your back covered as well. There’s a hedge of protection on every part and area of our being that can be visibly attacked. No matter which direction the enemy aims, we are truly covered because we are seeking after God. This passage really brings me much comfort and reassurance of God’s Providence over my life. In the geographic term, a valley is the elongated lowland between ranges of mountains, hills, or other uplands. As cliché as might sound, we truly must go through the valley in order to stand up on the mountain with God.

Altogether, we need trust and the humility of Christ in order to embark on the journey of faith. His humility gave His death its value and became our redemption. It also has served as the ground and root of His relation to God and His redeeming work that has in turn fulfilled the destiny of mankind. Living in humility and dying to self is accepting our place as dependents of God has proven to remove every hindrance to faith. Like everything else in our lives, this takes work but those who have “fought the good fight, and have finished the race, have kept the faith” 2 Timothy 4:7

Blessings!

Luana Faria – Apprentice

Posted on May 5th, 2009 by Michael
Filed under: News, Reflections from the Streets