"Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side." // Psalm 23:4
News headlines and video clips run through my social media feed, most depressing, divisive, or confusing. A virtual valley of darkness threatens to close in on me. I feel defeated, hopeless, trapped in my circumstances.
I've felt my heart pounding and my chest tighten in anxiety and desperation. I've cried until tissue boxes were empty. I've fallen asleep at night, weary from carrying the burdens of my family and worries about the world, not knowing how to face the unknowns of another day.
Raise your hand if this is you, too. Sister, let me extend a virtual hug to you. Hope is not lost, and you're not alone.
"Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side," the Psalm boldly proclaims.
I don't pretend to know how you're feeling today. Some things are nearly impossible to figure out, and without the Lord's promise of hope, some of them would be impossible. I've been there, facing broken relationships, not knowing how to help a child in despair, feeling trapped by leaders making poor decisions.
"I will fear no evil, for the Lord is at my side," I pray with the Psalms. These dark days have brought me to my knees, surrendering to the Lord when there was nothing else I could do. And it was then that I found His hand and got up to take the next (trembling) step in defiant hope.
The Lord was and is at my side for every moment, with every sob, with every desperate cry, "How, Lord?!"
And yet I've experienced how He dispels darkness and fear. In surrender to His care, I have found hope. He leads me each moment of the day, towards greater light and freedom. He has worked healing in my family, physically and spiritually. He has protected us and provided for us in tangible ways. He has kept me in His light.
Today, pray with the Psalms and ask Jesus to fill you with His light and hope, to show you in an unmistakable way that He is by your side in whatever you face.
Hope is not lost. // Gina FenstererClick to tweet
Gina Fensterer is a wife and mother of six children. She is passionate about finding God in the ordinary moments of her vocation. She loves Adoration, praying with Scripture, long morning walks, and fitness. She was a contributing author to And Hay Became Holy and our children's devotional prayer book called Rise Up. Read more by her here.
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