Walk

Enoch walked with God, and was no more.  God gave him Heaven.
Noah walked with God into a boat and through the flood.  God gave him a new world.
Abraham walked with God to a strange land.  God gave him faith, and a promise.
The nation of Israel walked with God out of Egypt and into the desert.  God gave them the Promised Land.

They didn’t know God’s plan as they stepped into the desert, or the flood, or onto the path toward a new home.  But they knew God.  And God gave promises as they walked with Him.  I will make you a great nation.  I will save you.  I will give you a good land.  The promises must have seemed distant in the desert and in the flood and along the strange path, at times they didn’t believe.  But in the end they trusted.  They followed.  They walked.  And God was faithful.

Do I trust God?  Do I trust Him in the desert?  In the valley of the shadow of death?  Do I trust His plan that I can’t see, or will I make my own plan?  Will I be Eve eating the forbidden fruit, or Miriam dishonoring Moses, or the Israelites with their golden calf and pagan idolatry, refusing to walk into the Promised Land because of the giants that dwell there?  Or will I walk with God?  Will I walk with God in the darkness, moving when the pillar of fire moves, or will I light my own torch?

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. 

Psalm 23

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 

Isaiah 43

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.  2 Corinthians 4:6-10

I will walk through deserts and storms and floods and fires and valleys and shadows in this world.  But God promises me Life.  This Life is not perplexed or despairing or forsaken or destroyed.  This Life swallows up the desert and the darkness, the pain and the death.

For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened – not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.  2 Corinthians 5:4-5

Jesus is the Way through the desert and the dark valley, the flood and the fire.
Jesus is the Truth of the Promise of God, the Promise of His Presence, the Promise of Heaven.
Jesus is the Life that swallows up death, sin and shame, affliction and sorrow.
Jesus is the Light that banishes the shadows, the Light that illuminates the path, the Light that dwells in my heart, the Light that continues to shine through the cracks of my brokenness.

 ©Rebecca A Givens, 09/29/14