"The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths, for His name sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
 
  When I read this verse, it takes me back to my childhood. Sitting in class, memorizing and taking our bible verse quiz, but when you're young and nieve, you never really know the true weight of the Lords word untill you've been through the storm, the lessons that are ahead on that narrow path we take, and how much comfort there is in the word of God.
  Something about this scripture makes me think of a beautiful image. An image of Jesus taking my hand, and not taking the dark valley away from me, but walking me THROUGH it. When the path looks scary, unfamiliar, and unpredictable trials, our first reaction is to say "Lord Jesus, please take this away from me. Heal me. Protect me." but what if there is a beautiful lesson He's trying to show you on the other side of it? Something we can't see, but HE can. Do you really think our good Shepherd would lead us in the wrong direction? To leave His sheep astray?
 
  Giving Him our full trust, He wants to walk with us through the suffering, through the trials and trauma, to show us the beauty on the other side. He wants to anoint our head with oil so our cup will overflow will His goodness, love, joy, and so many blessings. 
 
Will you trust Him to guide you?