Picking up broken the pieces

The heart ache of this past week is evident in the state of Oklahoma...children were lost, families ripped apart, sorrow and pain have been an un-welcomed, uninvited guest.  How do we pick up the pieces when life seemingly sweeps away any remnants of normality?  

Throughout our world people today are facing this very same situation.  It might not present itself in the form of a mile wide twister but rather a car accident, a bout with cancer, a loss of a loved one.  People find themselves at the brink of total despair and their lives in ruin shattered before their very eyes.  

David knew a thing or two about a shattered life...more than once.  He was in flight for his life, the king wanted him dead, later when he became king he committed adultery, plotted to kill the husband and lost a child in the process... his life was shattered.  In one of his most famous psalms 23 he wrote; "even though I travel through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."  

We at times, as human beings, walk through valleys within the shadows of death on all sides.   And because of these valleys,we find the pieces of our lives scattered in all directions.  

Have you been there?  Are you there right now?  Do you fear the evil that lurks in your life right now?  What was David's hope?  How did he overcome his valleys and collecting the broken pieces of his life?  He knew that he wasn't alone...the Lord was his shepherd and even in the midst of deep despair and trouble he knew One who could sustain, protect and provide. 

Are you picking up the pieces today?  Know that you aren't alone and that the good shepherd will walk beside you and give the the strength to make it through this chapter of your life.