Death. It’s unwelcomed. It’s unwanted. It’s painful. It
leaves emptiness. Yes, that’s exactly what death does. And in the valley of death is where I have been these past
months. Dying to self.
And in it I have found great freedom.
I now have a greater understanding of David having no fear
while he walked through his personal valley of death. He was never alone. The walk through my valley of death began several months ago
in Honduras. I was challenged to be vulnerable
with team Mashach whom I meet briefly for a week and now I was going to live life with them for the next three months. So I had a choice, either continue to live in my
sense of security and protect my heart from my team (I felt were strangers to
me) or die to my sense of security by opening my heart to them and in a sense
laying it on the table bare and accessible to them. I choose the latter.
I discovered that sense of security I had was false. In
closing my heart to my new family I would of missed living a life of complete
freedom. Yes, you read correctly family. In being vulnerable to them we lost
the label of teammates and we all
became a close-knit family. I found
myself trusting the Jesus in each of my teammates. Because each of them saw the
greatness my Father has created me to be and called me to walk in. Our Father
knit us together with his love. I learned to fight for them and beside them
because we are all worth fighting for.
Death does leave emptiness, but when its death to self, Christ is faithful to fill the emptiness with His abounding love and abundant
life. Furthermore, from that love one is able to speak life to others. I have
entered a new season with a brand new family named Team Chayil. These girls are
powerhouses! Each of them has walked through their personal valley of death.
And from our death to self we have found the voice given by our Father to speak
life to others.
As terrifying as the valley of death may look it’s worth
walking through it. Truth is, we will not walk through it on our own. God the
Father has promised to take us by the hand, comfort us and lead us to still
waters and green pastures.
We all have our own valley of death that we must cross. At first
it may seem daunting to take those first steps into your valley of death. You
may even feel crippled to move forward. But don’t stop. Death is scary but it’s
also beautiful. Beautiful because once you’ve crossed the valley of death you
will reflect the face of Abba Father.
