Turn Toward the Light - Tuesday Theology: From Stressed to Blessed

Do you remember what shadows looked like when you were a child lying in bed at night?

The jacket over the chair became a man. The branch outside became a claw.

Nothing could actually hurt you. But the shadows were bigger than the things themselves, and that's why they were frightening.

We grow up, but the shadows come with us. They just go by other names now.

Fifth Tuesday in From Stressed to Blessed. Today, about what we all go through: the valleys.

We all walk through valleys.

Sometimes it's the valley of death, when we lose someone we love. But it can just as easily be the valley of debt. The valley of conflict. The valley of doubt, or the valley of hitting bottom.

Loss belongs to life, and no one gets around it.

David doesn't hide it away:

"Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I have nothing to fear, for you walk by my side; your shepherd's staff protects me." (Ps 23:4)

Notice that one word: shadow. It's not there by accident.

A shadow can't do you any harm. A truck can run you over, but the truck's shadow does nothing to you.

And shadows are always bigger than the thing that casts them. That's why fear so often becomes worse than the thing itself.

We spend more energy on the dread of what might happen than on what actually happens.

And here's the good news hidden in the word itself. There is no shadow without a light. A shadow is proof that the light is there.

If you don't want to be afraid in the valley, then don't stare at the shadow. You have to turn around and look toward the light.

As long as your eyes rest on the light, the shadow can't frighten you. And Jesus says of himself that he is the light of the world.

David prayed like this when he was under the greatest pressure, hiding from a king who wanted to kill him:

"When I am discouraged and ready to give up, you show me the way I should go." (Ps 142:3)

There's a rest in that. You don't have to know all the answers. You only have to know the one who does.

When you're ready to give up, he knows what you should do.

It's also worth saying that fear and grief are not the same thing.

The Bible never says don't grieve or don't cry. Grief is healthy. It's how we get through our losses.

But fear paralyzes us, and that's why it says do not fear again and again in Scripture.

Grief you're allowed to make room for. Fear you should turn your back on, by turning toward the light.

So if you're standing in a valley right now, try it. Don't stare at the darkness. Lift your eyes to Jesus, one day at a time, and keep walking.

Which valley are you walking through these days — and what would it change to turn toward the light?

What has helped you through a dark time? Feel free to write it in the comments.

The shadow is big. The light is bigger. Keep walking.