Quantcast
Channel: The Gifted Writer » valley of the shadow of death
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Journal of Your Heart

0
0

[The following is a previously-posted entry from 2013]

Sheep

“We pass from thinking of God as part of our life, to the realization that we are part of His life.” (Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home)

I use this quote a lot when I’m talking to people about the perspective changes the Lord has given me, but when I tell it, I can’t remember the name of the man who wrote it. The other day, I said, “I need to give credit to this man when I use his words.”

Remembering that I had written the quote down in a little journal I used to carry around, I dug it out of a drawer. The journal had dates in it from 2003 and 2004. It was one that I used to write down things that came to mind: quotes, story ideas, little poetic things that touched me.

As I looked through what I had written, I came across something I had not remembered at all. Somewhere between 2003 and 2004, I had written this:

“Picture of a lamb walking beside the Shepherd. Shepherd’s hand is on the lamb’s head. I want to be that lamb so that when I walk through the valley of the shadow, I will be right beside Jesus all the way.”

My eyes filled with tears when I read this prayer of my heart. Almost a decade ago, the Lord was preparing me to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. When my daughter died in 2011, the Lord answered my prayer.

Not only did He put His hand on my head, He picked me up and carried me against His chest. He is still carrying me, and I do not ever want Him to put me down.

It is so hard to go through the dark valley. It hurts every day, and only if you’ve gone through it do you know the depth of the pain, and why you will always have it.

Hard things happen in life, and we may not be able to choose whether to go through them, but we can always choose how we go through them. I can tell you that I will go through these things no other way than to be carried by Jesus.

When I tell you that He is real, and that He is near, that He cares about everything that happens to you, that He loves you, and will never leave you, you can believe it.

As real as this pain of losing a child is, Jesus is more real. He is more real than anything you can see with your eyes or touch with your hands.

Friend, if you are hurting, run to the Shepherd, grab hold of His robe and never let go. There is life with Him, and that life can be found nowhere else. Do it before the valley looms in the distance, because sometimes you turn a corner and you’re already in it.

When you reach out to Him, you will be amazed to see how close He already was. He knows what you need, and in His arms, you will find the deepest desire of your heart – the completely devoted and tender love of the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for you. (John 10:11)

Phyllis Keels



Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images