{"id":24852,"date":"2020-03-18T22:38:03","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T22:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/?p=24852"},"modified":"2020-03-18T22:38:03","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T22:38:03","slug":"when-we-walk-through-the-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/when-we-walk-through-the-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"When We Walk Through the Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-266x266 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-still-water-450x450.jpeg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-still-water-450x450.jpeg 450w, https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-still-water-80x80.jpeg 80w, https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-still-water-36x36.jpeg 36w, https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-still-water-180x180.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-still-water-120x120.jpeg 120w, https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-still-water-45x45.jpeg 45w\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"630\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Since I wrote this blog a week a<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">go, it seems\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">as if absolutely everything in our world has changed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">I don&#8217;t need to list the details of how CO<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">VID19 has changed our world because by the time this posts, they will have changed again. Even in an age when my words can be disseminated almost instantly, by the time you read them, they could very well be obsolete, irrelevant, even untrue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">And that&#8217;s a difficult situation for human beings to cope with. We depend on things staying relatively stable. We have a system, a certain way of doing things that works for us. When those things no longer work for us, there is a pain, resistance, searching for ways to avoid the change, denial, even\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">anger&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Change is hard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">And, in this particular situation, how do we separate what is reasonable and prudent and true from paranoia, hype, and over-re<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">action? From what I can tell with the limited intelligence God gave me, there is some of all of that out there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">I&#8217;m currently involved in a Bible study called Core 52. It aims to teach 52 core concepts in the Bible in 52 weeks. Last week, we were studying the 23rd Psalm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Now, most of us think of Psalm 23 as a psalm of comfort, and it is. I think I read somewhere that it is the most commonly used Bible verse at funerals. And that makes sense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">But as I read through it before this whol<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">e coronavirus thing blew up in our faces, I came to believe it should be read almost with defiance in one&#8217;s voice &#8211;a taunt like David shouted at Goliath.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Let&#8217;s see if I can convey what I mean by doing a Eugene Peterson-style paraphrase:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">The <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">LORD<\/span> <\/strong>is my shepherd! I shall NOT be in want!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">He makes it possible for me to lay down in green pastures and beside still waters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">He restores my very soul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">He leads me on paths of righteousness for the glor<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">y of <\/span><strong style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">HIS<\/strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\"> name!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">And, yes, even though I may end up walking through the very valley of the shadow of <em>death<\/em> on this journey,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\"><em><strong>I-will-fear-NO-EVIL!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">For <strong>HIS<\/strong> weapons and<strong> HIS<\/strong> guidance and<strong> HIS<\/strong> direction guide me and comfort me!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">The <strong>LORD GOD <\/strong>prepares a banquet for me in the very presence of my enemies!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">He anoints my head with oil in love and mercy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">My cup overflows with <strong>His<\/strong> goodness and abundance!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">And I <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">know<\/span><\/em> that this goodness and mercy an<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">d all these things will follow me <\/span><em style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">all the days of my life<\/em><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Until I live with Him in His house\u00a0<em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">forever<\/span><\/em>!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">AMEN! HALLELUJAH!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Late on Saturday night, (by which I mean about 10:25 p.m.) I heard Kinship Christian Radio Announcer Steve Ware talking about worry and worship. He was quoting pastor Rick Warren and the gist of what he was saying was that worship and worry are incompatible with each other. If you are\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">worrying, you are not worshiping God. If you are worshiping God, you are not worrying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">Now is the time, when all the world that is without God is worrying about what will happen next, for Christians to be seen worshiping God and going forth without fear. Now is the time when we should be offering to pick up groceries or run errands for the elderly. Now is the time when we should be offering sacrifice and comfort and confidence and level-headedness and joy (Yes I said JOY!) to others. Now is the time to show that these comparatively small and momentary afflictions really are <em>nothing<\/em> in the face of the eternal weight of glory that lies before us. (2 Corinthians 4:17)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">As one of my best pastor friends said about the whole situation, &#8220;I aint skeered.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Today&#8217;s Praise<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; Since I wrote this blog a week ago, it seems\u00a0as if absolutely everything in our world has changed. &nbsp; I don&#8217;t need to list the details of how&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 19:19:51","action":"delete","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24852"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}