I was a young girl when a missionary who was staying with my parents gave me a most precious book, Little Pilgrim’s Progress. I read it with joy as a girl and again as an adult, but I had no real appreciation for the story until a few years ago when I began to read John Bunyan’s original classic, “A Pilgrim’s Progress”.
I had not thought of it until a few weeks ago when I was trying to put words to a challenging situation in my personal life. I described to a friend that lately, life felt a lot like grasping around in the dark and crying out to God for help. I said, “I can’t see Him, but I know He is there. I feel like Christian walking through the Dark Valley.”
“The Dark Valley lay much lower than the Valley of Humiliation. It was narrow, and the black rocks seemed almost to meet over Christian’s head as he entered it. The evening was coming on, and the path was soon surrounded with a thick mist, so that he could scarcely see his hand when he stretched it out before him. Flashes of light kept breaking through the mist, but he did not know whether they were flames of fire or lightening, and the air was filled with terrible sounds, which made his heart beat fast with fear. By the light of the flames he saw that the path upon which he was walking was a very dangerous one. On his right hand there was a very deep hollow, and on his left a marsh, and it was all he could do to prevent himself from slipping into either one or the other.” – From Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L. Taylor
The Dark Valley is of course The Valley of the Shadow of Death. Some days I have felt almost pressed to death due to difficult circumstances, but the more I am pressed, the more I pray. The more I pray, the more I read my Bible. The more I read my Bible, the more I am reminded that my King is powerful, he loves me, and I am never outside of his field of vision. When one enters the Dark Valley, one is overwhelmed by the sheer terror of it all, but once one cries out to God and experiences deliverance from a terrible fall, it becomes of place of indelible sweetness.
I was jogging the other day and listening to some verses when I heard something precious.
“There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” – Deuteronomy 33:26-27
These were some of the last words of Moses before he died as he sought to bless the Israelites before they entered Canaan, the land God promised to give them. Moses was not allowed to go into the land he had spent so long leading the people to, yet, He trusted the Lord for their deliverance.
God’s word has become so sweet to me. I have come to see that nothing else satisfies the soul the way the words in the Bible do. And not because they are just good words of affirmation or positive thoughts or good vibes, but because they are real and true. They testify to the realness of a God I cannot see but who ever lives to fill my heart with joy in the knowledge of Him.
Moses liked this turn of phrase which is why he repeats it in Psalm 90. “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” And that is how I think of God now; my dwelling place. No matter how dark the days, how cold the nights, how bleak the future, “He is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.” (Psalm 18)
“And now little Christian was comforted in his loneliness by hearing the voice of a pilgrim who was repeating aloud some of the beautiful words which were written in the King’s Book.”
Today if you are walking on a treacherous path, I pray that God will guide you to the Word that will quench your fears, lighten your darkness, and satisfy the deepest longings of your soul. His word is “Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:10) May it fill you with joy and gladness of heart today–and every day.
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