Shadow

The Bible I read in my Quiet Time doesn't have cross references.  Sometimes it's annoying because I like knowing where different passages are that relate to a verse I'm reading.  However, most of the time I really enjoy it because I get to make my own cross references in the margins.  It allows me to get to know my Bible in a different way than I ever have before.  Sometimes, like today, I'll read a passage and it reminds me of another passage and I have to flip through my Bible until I find the passage that I was looking for.  As I was flipping through Psalm today, I ran across a very well known Psalm, Psalm 23.  This beautiful Psalm starts off, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want..."  This chapter has been used for many different occasions and in different settings.  I used to not think that much of it actually and thought at times it was over rated, but then my grandfather died.  A little while before his death my grandfather gave my dad his Bible.  They both were pastors and it seemed right to my grandfather that my dad receive his Bible.  As my dad flipped through it after my grandfather's death, he came across a note my grandfather had written in the margin referring to verse 4, which says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."  In the margin of his Bible, my grandfather wrote something to the affect of, "There must be light to create a shadow."  Light.  If there is light then there is hope.  The light may seem far off, but it is there to guide you and give you hope.  You may not even be in the "shadow of death" like David was, but you may have another shadow or a few.  I know I do.  Currently I'm in the valley of the shadow of school and graduation.  You may be in the valley of the shadow of work, family, school, relationships...BUT there is and will always be light shining as it creates your shadow.  With light comes hope and light will always penetrate the darkness.  Don't be discouraged when you are walking in the valley, because there is always hope for we know the source of the light.