Pain is no respecter of person, whether it is an ache, grief or nuisance, it is not pleasant to the soul and body. There are two ways out of it, to find a cure or for the affected to seek termination of his / her life. Likewise, a person passing through the valley of the shadow of death would sometimes prefer death in order to be relieved from the pain caused in that situation.
Grace and faith brings deliverance
Valley of the shadow of death may signify distress, pain, difficult or trembling situation, where hope of overcoming the unbearable is hopeless. It is only the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ can deliver such a person from such predicament.
The Bible says,
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence "(Ps 91: 1-3).
Living testimony
A woman of God came to our church to give a testimony on how God delivered her from the well of the shadow of death. This is a living testimony, true to life one. She accidentally fell into a 33feet well. She thought the iron sheet that covers it was loosely left on the ground, not knowing that an abandoned well was beneath.
Divine intervention
She was inside the well for two hours with broken legs of shattered bones before she could get assistance.
God spared her that she did not break her spinal cord or smash her head against the rocky bottom of the well. That is amazing grace.
While inside the well, she said there were reptiles and scorpion crawling over her, however, divine intervention would not allow them to sting or bite her. It reminds one about Daniel in the den of lion (Dan. 6). She was in agony of pain and faced with the possibility of even being suffocated.
God hears our prayers
While making effort to get her out of the well, she could no longer bear the pain, she then prayed for God to take her life if the pain would not subside. God answered her; she passed out between the time she was rescued from the well to the time she gained her consciousness in the hospital.
Enemies do not give up easily
Five different surgeries were performed on her in between the period of five months she spent in the hospital. Imagine the pain she passed through. To confirm that the whole occurrence was orchestrated by the enemy (devil), during one of the surgeries, a monitoring agent (an owl) was peeping through the window of the theater. Not until the owl was killed, the surgery was not successful.
The Bible says
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1Pet. 5: 8)
At the end of the fifth surgery, she recovered totally. What an amazing deliverance. Testimonies of other people reveal that this woman is prayerful, caring and hospitable; no wonder she receives grace.
Appearances of the shadow of death
Shadow of death refers to situations where people found themselves not of their own will, but by unforeseen powers eg Satan with his weapons. These weapons manifest in form of sicknesses, diseases, disasters, accident, hardship, losses, afflictions or attacks, not limited but inclusive of these.
Yet another shadow of death, which is more dangerous, looms on an apostate Christian. When a child of God plays with sin, he is walking in the valley of the shadow of death. A Christian who is deep into the sin of cultism, fornication, drunkenness, unforgiving, pride, greediness, sower of discord, wickedness, ungodliness and so forth; where would such a Christian end up? The answer is hell.
A Christian who finds himself in the valley of the shadow of death not of his own will is going through temporary trial; he would be delivered.
However, a Christian walking in the valley of sin is of his own will, he is not guaranteed of any deliverance. Those who know not Jesus, or those who refused to obey God's commandments, they are head captives by satan, bound in chain and locked up in prison for their next expectation, death. Learn a lesson from
Ps. 107. A genuine repentance today is a big step to earn you your own amazing deliverance.
