Running Through the Valley by Chad Hess

Several years ago, while going through the most difficult time in my life, my therapist challenged me by saying, "It sounds like you want to rewrite the 23rd psalm to say 'yea though I run through the valley of the shadow of death.'"  My immediate response was, "Well, of course I want to run through it!"  Why should we walk through the valley?  Could it be because there is value in the valley that we miss when we try to run?

Most of us run through everything.  Whether it is the valley of the shadow of death or the mountaintop experiences, we are running.  I don't remember the last Christmas letter I received that didn't begin with a remark about how fast the past year had gone.  We are always running, and we are always busy.  What are we missing?  What experiences or lessons are we running right past?

In Mark 5, Jairus begged Jesus to come and heal his dying daughter.  I'm sure Jairus wished that Jesus would run.  If it had been my child dying, I would have been going nuts as this huge crowd meandered down the path.  And as if that weren't slow enough, Jesus stopped to ask who had touched him! 

Praise God that Jesus wasn't running.  There was another woman who also needed healing that day, and she may not have gotten it if Jesus had run off to help Jairus.  Even though Jairus' daughter died while Jesus was walking, God has never been bound by our limitations of time.  Rather than healing Jairus' daughter of her disease, Jesus raised her from the dead.  And because Jesus took His time, two women received the healing that they needed.

What are you missing as you run through life?  What would it take for you to slow down?  Are you running right past the quiet whispers of God?

Chad Hess