October 29, 2014
Yea Though I Walk
Bill had an appointment at the Bonfils Blood
Center in Denver and because we’d taken a trial run the month before, we knew
exactly where to go and how long it would take to get there. Knowing the layout
of the land removed a huge layer of stress; even if all of our preparation did
cause us to arrive 45 minutes earlier than necessary. Over the years I’ve lost friends,
loved ones and acquaintances and I’m always bewildered by those who, by all
appearances, approach death without some sort of a plan — either earthly, or
spiritually. I’m now wondering if these folks have ever considered the lay of
the land, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me” (Psalm 23:4 KJV).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----I love your wisdom. You and Bill recognized a situation in which you would soon be: driving to the Bonfils Blood Center under the constraint of an appointed time. You recognized the need to know that situation before it arrived, so you drove it to learn it. I estimate the most important thing at any given moment is knowing the situation you are in.
-----Situation is not simple. It includes more than the set of physical circumstances at your present location. It includes also your inner being which will affect, relate to, or be affected in the situation, as well as that of anyone else involved, whether they are present in it or not. For example, each passenger buying a ticket for Flight 93 was in a situation being effected by the plans of nineteen hijackers. Had these passengers known the fullness of that momentary situation, they would’ve purchased a ticket for a different day. And the most important “inner being” affecting, relating to, and making affect upon any situation is the Lord God. He is present in every situation. He knows every aspect about every situation. He unites every situation into the product of His will. The more you submit and subject to Him, the more of His knowledge He shares with you.
-----But knowing your situation only gets you mentally in the ball park. Within that ball parked knowledge are more or less important things to specifically know. God made our minds to automatically filter out most of the stimuli received through our senses so we can consciously deal with what our attitudes aim to find important. It’s important to know your attitudes about a situation. They are a big part of it. In fact, it is important to construct and alter them - an element of self-control, fruit of the Spirit. Whether you entered a situation you should not have, or one that indeed you should have, the most important attitude to know in any situation is that it belongs to God for the extraction of His purpose.
-----This entire world of horrors is the “valley of the shadow of death“ situation. And we all are walking through it. Knowing that its evil is not to be feared is not knowing that we will not die. It is knowing that our death will be our construction, not our destruction, for the God who is with us is the God constructing righteousness. Everything He constructs is right. So everything He touches builds love for those who love Him. Even in truly rotten situations His construction is in effect.
-----So, of the most important thing at any moment is the most important knowledge to have about it: any particular situation is just another brick in Christ’s construction of your future. It will be laid in its proper place of relation to all other bricks, not only to those of your life, but also to those of everyone else’s lives who are also alive. Whether or not you should be in a situation, that situation you are in is His situation, too, because you are His sheep. By the cost of His life, you shall not be lost. Indeed, shall arrive in good comfort the sheep and lambs on the lap of the charioteer, “Who makest the clouds Thy chariot;” “the tracks of [which] drip with fatness” “With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.” (Ps 104:3; 65:11b-12a; 68:17)
-----Riding in the lap of the charioteer isn’t that we should carelessly blunder through our situations. It is that we should study them carefully as did you and Bill, to arrive in each situation on time, in good spiritual shape, having a proper affect for it.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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