When You Walk Through the Valley
Welcome to our Psalm 23 series “More of God’s Presence”. We are walking through the valley in Psalm 23 this week and I hope you are encouraged by the simple words below. If you have missed the other posts in this series, you can find them here:
Week 1: The Shepherd
Week 2: Green Grass
Week 3: Still Waters
Week 4: Restoration
Week 5: My Worth
The Valley
Yea, 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. Psalm 23:4
Sometimes it’s easy to ask for prayer, for help, for support. You shout out on Facebook or through a text message and ask your friends to lift you up in prayer. Other times putting words together to make a complete thought seems impossible. The valleys of life are dark. We all walk through them at one time or another.
For some the valley looks like cancer. For others the valley looks like tragedy. For many the valley looks like financial crisis and stress that seems like it will never end. And then there’s the valley of death. That one is really hard to beat.
It takes a toll on family and friends and literally leaves a shadow for years to come. The grief is hard to define because it comes in like a freight train when you least expect it. And other times it just looms like a simple shadow. You always know it’s there, but dealing with it and making sense of it is complicated.
Valleys are hard. They hurt and can be oh so lonely. I’m talking about the ones that take your breath away and leave you with no words.
If you are going through a valley, I want to share a simple song with you that God gave me recently as I remembered some difficult valleys I have walked through. My valleys will be different than yours, but they are valleys just the same. It might be the valley of pain, the valley of broken dreams, or the valley of anxiety, but all of us have a common bond – we all go through some sort of valley at some point in our life.
In my valleys there have been specific things God put in my path that brought a smile to my life – people, a kind word, a song, a verse, an encouraging note. I hope the words of this song will bring you a smile today. I don’t know what you face, but I know this – God has given me a smile even in the shadow, even in the desperate unknown. God is with us in the valleys. God is with you.
Anyway
by Micah Maddox
When God feels far away
And there’s no more words to pray
When friends have nothing to say
But the pain won’t go away
Trust God has a plan for you
He is faithful, and His love is true
It’s time to uncover your eyes
See God working in each of our lives
Be kind anyway
Smile anyway
Do right anyway
Even if it don’t go your way
It’s time to embrace this place
Stop running after the chase
Cause God, He knows your name
With Him you’ll never be the same
Smile anyway
Smile anyway
When fear takes hold of you
You feel you can’t make it through
Just think on what’s good and true
Remember His grace brand new
Cause God’s still working on you
No matter what you think or do
It’s time to let Him hold you strong
No matter what’s going wrong
God is willing to hold you through the night
He is faithful, for His children He will fight
So hold on tight and don’t let go
In the morning new mercy you will know
Be kind anyway
Smile anyway
Do right anyway
Even if it don’t go your way
It’s time to embrace this place
Stop running after the chase
Cause God, He knows your name
With Him you’ll never be the same
Smile anyway
Smile anyway
If this has been an encouragement to you, pass it on!
Love & Blessings,
Micah
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God is always with us, also in valleys. My hope is not in easy circumstances but in God. Hence I don’t give up when things get tough. I could not do in on my own but God is with me and strengthening me. So I can smile and dance in the front of fear. Thanks for this wonderful reminder. Blessings to you, neighbor!
That’s a beautiful song, Micah! So glad I’m your neighbor at the Soul Survival link up today! I’m walking through that valley of death and it is tough. If it weren’t for God’s presence in the midst of it, I do think I’d waste away. Thanks for this! xo
Oh, Micah, thank you for sharing words of bravery born of faith. Our confidence is in Him — especially in the valley.
Micah what a beautiful poem. Thanks for sharing.
A perfect reminder that no matter what we are facing we can trust God and make right choices with His strength upholding us. Visiting from Mommy Moments today :)
It’s true … we all face those valleys, don’t we! And God can and does speak to us in many different ways during those times. Years ago when I was faced with 2 major surgeries, living away from friends and family in a new town without any real connections, He used several simple children’s songs. As I was driving home I realized there was an audio tape in the player in my car that was my grandson’s. I started playing it because it made we think of the times we’d listened to it together, but the words ministered to me! It was a sweet reminder of HIS presence.
I was your neighbor at “Me, Coffee, and Jesus” today. Thanks for your encouragement.
What a lovely devotion on a favorite psalm!
Psalm 23 has been a favorite of mine since childhood. When my chidlren were young, I used to quote Psalm 23 with them when they were afraid or going thru a stressful situation.
The last few months I found myself turning frequently to the comfort of these verses as I went thru cancer treatment. I was definitely walking thru the valley of the shadow of death. It was such a comfort knowing He was with me every step of the way.
Jesus is such a faithful friend!
Beautiful, Micah! Thank you for this lovely reminder.
The blessing of having been through the valley of depression is learned empathy. Unless you’ve walked it, the depths and impacts of it are impossible to understand. Thank you for sharing, Micah! I’m so glad I stopped by. :-)
We all love the fantastic view from the mountain top, but as I study Ps 23, I couldn’t help but realize that the best food and still water always resides in the valley and not on the summit. Meaning to me, that we grow and are nourished the most in our times of heartache and difficulty way more than those when we are relaxing on high hills. Of course, no one wants pain, but we need to learn to look up from our suffering and see that our vigilant shepherd is keeping watch over us and will guide us to choice spiritual food during those times… as long as we will follow Him. thanks Micah!
Beautifully written!
Hi! Stopping by from #TellHisStory and always looking for new worship jams! Thank you for posting this song. Thank you for your heart for depressed women. Thank you for writing about hope. It is important.
Have a wonderful, wonderful day!
This passage of scripture is common in that we say it a lot and most of us have it memorized but it is such a source of comfort kind of like a Compass for hard times. David’s life had so many twists and turns. some valleys he entered out of his own doing and some he was thrust into because he was obeying God. but no matter the shadow there was always life on the other side they were always huge lessons in the midst of it. I am in a dark valley right now and have been so for a while now. some days I give up hope and think it’s never going to end and this is all my fault and I’ll never get out of it but that’s not true because God has sent me many people to speak life to me and hope and future light coming as I walked through this valley. thank you for this post. Comforting.
another type of valley is change. It can come in some many different ways but it is always hard. But it makes us realize that we are there and we have to draw near to Him as our Shepherd who cares for us. Thank you for the reminder. visiting from #tellhisstory #6
Love this encouragement today! We all have our own valleys, but we are never alone in them. Thank you for your words! visiting from #tellhisstory
Thankful that he carries us through the dark times and is faithful when we can’t see our way. Thanks for the encouragement today.