It Starts Small

Even if I come to, whether I am brought to it by the actions of others, or whether it is the proper destination of my path in living an unwise manner of life, the deep valley overshadowed by death, of very thick darkness so that I can not see my way, I will not tremble or be afraid of the wickedness of others in acting against me, of calamity or deep distress, or the outcome of the worst case scenario.

Fear would be a reasonable response if I were facing this valley alone; however, I am not alone.

I will fear no evil

It doesn’t say I will not feel sadness or grieve horrifically or suffer depression or be angry at God or struggle to believe or even fear the worst possible outcome. It says,

I will fear no evil

It doesn’t say my worst nightmare will not happen or my marriage will survive or my kids will not have significant problems or the cancer will be cured or I will not fail the test or I won’t have to go to rehab . . . again. . .  It says,

I will fear no evil,

Now, that is a curiosity to me. I will fear no evil. Why that? It means Satan, demonic powers, and all the forces of evil and darkness cannot and will not prevail against you. It is one thing to lose the battle with cancer, another thing entirely to lose the war with Satan.

Remember the Good Shepherd context of John 10:10—the most favorite bible verse:

¹⁰ A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

John 10:10

What if the threat is not evil?

What if the real threat is the fear of evil?

There is something deep within everyone of us. There is something primal and even ancient, that fears evil. What if it is this fear that brings us into anxiety and leads us into sin which shields us from awareness of the presence of God, our Good Shepherd? What if it is our fear of evil that keeps us from the abundant life of Jesus—even in the midst of the deepest, darkest, deadliest valleys of life? 

This is ponderous. I’ll admit it. But I believe the Lord put it on my heart to say it—and this:

There is only one reason we can say, “I will fear no evil.” It is not because evil is not powerful and all around us all the time.