There’s a verse we know well, one we quote at funerals and dark nights of the soul: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me…” (Psalm 23:4) Written by David, yes, that David, the warrior, the psalmist, the man after God’s heart.
Most scholars agree that Psalm 23 was penned later in his life, after he had lived through betrayal, cave, dwelling, war, loss, and his own moral failures.
He knew valleys. He didn’t write this from a spa day in Jerusalem. He wrote this as a man who had walked with God in the dark. But here’s what stands out: He walked through.
He didn’t set up camp in the valley. He didn’t build a monument to despair. He didn’t unpack his trauma and stayed stuck in the shadows. He kept moving. Because Psalm 23 was never written to romanticize suffering, it was written as a pilgrimage. It’s a journey.
And maybe today that journey looks like just one movement. One breath. One whisper of a prayer. One foot in front of the other.
Even in the dullest of days, MOVE! Even when your soul feels like dry bones, make a sound. Because those bones, they can live again. (Ezek 37).
My husband Matt always says, “C’mon, just one step.”
And I want to scream that to you today, because not long ago, I needed someone to scream it at me. You will NOT stay here. Not in the shadow of death. Not in the wilderness.
Don’t you dare pitch your tent in yesterday’s pain. Yes, the shadows are real. Yes, you’ll go through them. But you’re not alone. The promise was never a valley-free life. The promise is presence in the valley.
“You are with me…”And surrounding you? That great cloud of witnesses (Heb 12:1) those who’ve gone before, shouting from heaven, “C’mon! Keep going! Don’t quit now!” He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. (Deut 31:6).
He will pull you up with His righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10).
And one day, He’ll say, “Sit here. Right next to Me. You good and faithful servant”.
So today, if all you can do is take one trembling step, do it.
Don’t stay. Don’t sulk. Don’t scratch old wounds. Journey, beloved. Journey until you find the still waters. Until you’re lying down in green pastures. Keep going. Just one step.
Soak through it!
I’LL be the first to admit, there was a time in my life when simply reading my Bible felt like a spi-ritual gold star. Like, “Well done, Vicky! You read two chapters today. Surely the angels are applau-ding.” And maybe they were…but even heaven knows: I was sipping milk when I was created to crave meat. Hebrews 5:13-14 puts it straight: “Anyone who lives on milk…is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature…”
There comes a moment when just reading isn’t enough. We grow. We hunger for more than highlight-and-post devotionals. Our spirit knows, we were created for more. And not just any kind of more. We were made for Him, and from Him, for His pleasure (Rev 4:11). That means our lives were meant to give God joy. But how?
By obedience. Gritty, costly, beautiful obedience. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22). Let’s be honest, most of our real struggles aren’t the big, billboard sins. It’s the secret ones. The thought patterns no one sees. The habits we hide. The scrolling we justify. The bitterness we nurse in the quiet. They’re not obvious, but they entangle us.
And they quietly kill our joy. Why? Because they keep us from Him. And the enemy loves that. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” (John 10:10). But Jesus? He comes that we may have LIFE. And He’s not just calling us to Him, He’s running towards us. Over and over. Because that’s the kind of King He is. The kind who doesn’t sit on a throne waiting for you to sort your mess, He gets in the mud, grabs your hand, and says, “Come home.”
So today, I’m asking, what’s keeping you from the deep stuff? What’s stopping you from letting the Word not just sit in you, but live through you?
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” And Hebrews 12:1 calls us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…”
Let’s stop treating our time with Jesus like a checklist. Let’s climb the mountain like Moses did. Let’s linger so long that when we come down, people notice the glow. Because the truth is, Moses had major flaws. He made mistakes. Big ones. But what marked his life was this: he let the Presence of God define him. He didn’t just aim toward God’s presence, he lived from it.
So today, let the Word saturate you. Let it guide you. Let it change how you talk, how you walk, how you love, and how you repent. Don’t just read the Bible, become the living, breathing evidence of it.You weren’t made to sit in the shallow end.You were made to radiate!! (VICKY LUDICK)