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The 23^rd Psalm, and in particular the 4^th and 6^th verses, have become major stalwarts of my faith… and for that matter… of my life over the last few months.  Its gentle VOICE speaks directly to my current position within the journey of my life today.  It is a MESSAGE of peace and hope through which the yearning felt through The Passion Translation of the Bible has me very personally declaring,

“Lord, even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, (or, through the valley of the shadow of Piper’s passing) fear will never conquer me, for you already have! You remain close to me and lead me through it all the way. Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away any fear. I’ll never be lonely, for you are near.” (Psalm 23:4 TPT)

Then in verse six, He quenches my deepest concerns as I softly say to Him,

“So why would I fear the future? For your goodness and love pursue me all the days of my life. Then afterward, when my life is through, I’ll return to your glorious presence to be forever with you!” (Psalm 23:6 TPT)

These two verses are not only helping me to bring a semblance of order, reason and vision into my shell-shocked life from the traumatic events of the previous ten years, but they also give us a third part of the equation that we having been writing about in our last two blog posts.*

You see, when you are faced with the various THOUGHTS* that come into your mind as a result of the VOICES* you’ve heard, you have a decision to make, right?  And these two verses give us a direct hint on what to consider for that decision, when that time comes.  Verse four tells us that when we’re in the midst of difficult times, that we should recall a few important facts. 

First, that FEAR CAN’T CONQUER US because Jesus already has!  Secondly is the personal knowledge that He is remaining close to us and will lead us ALL THE WAY THROUGH it.  And lastly that our “knowing” of His intimate and deeply personal LOVE for us will give us all the comfort we need.

Verse six then reinforces verse four by re-confirming that our “knowing” of God’s close presence in difficult times causes us to have NO FEAR FOR THE FUTURE… even when our present doesn’t look too promising… because God’s GOODNESS and LOVE is actively PURSUNG us, ALL the days of our lives!

Those Bible FACTS are the true MESSAGE that each of has to firmly, deeply and unquestionably impress into our hearts, heads, minds, mouths and corresponding actions!  And it is not something that one does a single time.  This type of very personal, inner “knowing” comes from a consistent study and infilling of God’s Word into our lives.  In other words, it is a life-long practice. 

I’ve told before, that when I finally got to attend Bible School following some 30 plus years of active Christian ministry… I thought that it was going to be a piece of cake and mostly review of what I already knew…  Well… ten minutes into my first class told me how surely WRONG I WAS! 

I suddenly realized how much deep truth I THOUGHT I knew… but really hadn’t received it deep into my heart.  Then with the surprise negative diagnosis of Piper’s health immediately following graduation… I realized that I still had a lot of work ahead of me, in order to personalize my faith… and come to the place where “I KNEW” without any question or doubt, that what I said I believed… really was an unshakable part of who I was!

And I am thankful that in the midst of all the emergency situations that did arise… most times when we were alone in the house… over the next ten years, that I simply responded in faith, never considering any other result… but what God promises us in his Word.

And just because we had a lot of success throughout those years… doesn’t mean that I can relax today!  I still remember telling one of the hospice nurses a few days before Piper was called up to the majors in heaven, that I had a sneaky suspicion that the worst was yet to come when she was gone… and I was right!

So, I keep pressing into Him and His Word and with an uncanny personal peace tell myself on a daily basis, “So why would I fear the future? For God’s goodness and love pursue me all the days of my life.”

It works for me… What about for you?  I’d suggest that you give it a try and experience the wonders of His supernatural interventions into the activities of your daily life!  Have a great rest of the week, and as you do… keep EXPECTING God’s best!

 

*For the background on THOUGHTS and VOICES written about here, please read our blog posts from 5/1/21 “VOICES” and 5/3/21 “THOUGHTS” at pjberruto.blogspot.com