{"id":2456664,"date":"2025-07-08T05:50:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T09:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-christians-fear-not-the-shadow-of-death\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T05:55:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T09:55:48","slug":"texas-christians-fear-not-the-shadow-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-christians-fear-not-the-shadow-of-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Christians, Fear Not The Shadow Of Death"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftexas-christians-fear-not-the-shadow-of-death%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2456664&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>As of monday evening, Texas has witnessed devastating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/at-least-four-dead-in-tenn-after-flash-flooding-tornado-hits-south\/\" title=\"At least four dead in Tenn. after flash flooding, tornado hits south\">flash flooding<\/a> that has reportedly resulted in over 100 deaths, including at least 27 campers and counselors from a Christian summer camp. The ongoing search for missing individuals has stirred deep reflections on themes of darkness, suffering, and belief in a sovereign God. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >author recalls personal loss<\/a>, referencing a song that brings comfort during tragic times, highlighting the biblical reassurance found in Psalm 23. <\/p>\n<p>The psalm speaks not of death itself, but of the &#8220;shadow of death,&#8221; emphasizing that for believers in Christ, death has lost its sting. The piece encourages Christians to maintain hope amidst despair, advocating for genuine compassion towards the grieving rather than dismissive platitudes.It echoes the importance of weeping with those who mourn while affirming the hope of resurrection and the eradication of suffering in the future. The author concludes with the reminder that even in the darkest times, Christ&#8217;s light prevails.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As of Monday evening, the death toll from the flash flooding in Texas has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/07\/us\/texas-floods-search-rescue-survivors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> surpassed 100, with some precious little girls from a Christian summer camp yet to be found. At least 27 campers and counselors are among those who lost their lives. Each successive news alert is worse than the last, confirming our deepest fears about those missing.<\/p>\n<p>Moments like these call for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/law-prof-argues-bipoc-is-not-inclusive-enough-for-people-of-color\/\" title=\"Law Prof Argues \u2018BIPOC\u2019 Is Not Inclusive Enough For People Of Color\">deep reflection<\/a> on what we believe about darkness and light, good and evil, life and death, suffering and a sovereign God.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I wrestled with these themes almost three years ago, when my dear friend Tyler died an untimely death. One of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vTSBw2eSWuM&amp;list=RDvTSBw2eSWuM&amp;start_radio=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">favorite songs<\/a>, &ldquo;House of God Forever,&rdquo; comes to mind almost as often as he does, but especially on dark days like these:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>God is my shepherd<br \/>I won&rsquo;t be wanting &hellip;<br \/>He makes me rest<br \/>In fields of green by quiet streams<br \/>Even though I walk<br \/>Through the valley of death and dying<br \/>I will not fear<br \/>&rsquo;Cause You are with me<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Written by Jon Foreman, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vTSBw2eSWuM&amp;list=RDvTSBw2eSWuM&amp;start_radio=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">song<\/a> is a beautiful rehearsing of the truths of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=psalm%2023&amp;version=KJV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Psalm 23<\/a>. I used to listen to it with Tyler, and now I turn to it and the psalm it mirrors for comfort in his absence and during other moments of trial, chaos, and loss. As Foreman sings, &ldquo;Surely goodness will follow me&rdquo; &mdash; just as it followed Tyler and the many Christians lost in the Texas flood &mdash; &ldquo;in the house of God forever.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But one line of this song woefully misses the meaning of the psalm and thus the comfort the psalm provides. For the psalmist speaks not of the &ldquo;valley of death and dying&rdquo; but of &ldquo;the valley of the <em>shadow<\/em> of death.&rdquo; For all who repent of their sin and believe the gospel, for those who put all their hope in the blood of Christ, death is a nasty but inanimate &ldquo;shadow.&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spurgeon.org\/resource-library\/blog-entries\/the-pearl-of-the-psalms-spurgeon-on-psalm-23\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here&rsquo;s<\/a> Charles Spurgeon on the matter:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>And, then, it is not &ldquo;the valley of death,&rdquo; but&nbsp;&ldquo;<\/em><strong><em>the valley of the shadow of death<\/em><\/strong><em>,&rdquo; for death in its substance has been removed, and only the shadow of it remains. &hellip; Nobody is afraid of a shadow, for a shadow cannot stop a man&rsquo;s pathway even for a moment. The shadow of a dog cannot bite; the shadow of a sword cannot kill; the shadow of death cannot destroy us. Let us not, therefore, be afraid.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Matthew Henry&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/biblehub.com\/commentaries\/mhc\/psalms\/23.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commentary<\/a> on Psalm 23 provides yet more comfort, reminding the reader that &ldquo;it is a walk <em>through<\/em>&rdquo; the valley of the shadow of death (emphasis mine). &ldquo;[God&rsquo;s people] shall not be lost in this valley, but get safe to the mountain on the other side. Death is a king of terrors, but not to the sheep of Christ.&rdquo; For Christ, the Good Shepherd, will not lose any one of His sheep. Those He redeemed with His own blood <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John%2010%3A28-30&amp;version=NIV;KJV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">can never be plucked<\/a> from God&rsquo;s hand. <\/p>\n<p>Yet in reciting these truths to avoid the temptation of despair, Christians should resist the dual temptation of dismissal amid such unspeakable suffering. For although we have confidence that Jesus defeated sin and death on the cross, we still await with tears and groaning the ultimate future victory. Neither doubting believers nor lost souls gain from our being cavalier about present death and grief. They don&rsquo;t need Pollyanna-ish platitudes wrapped in out-of-context Bible verses. Rather, we should look to Jesus for his perfect example of compassion and weep with those who weep, praying earnestly for the God of all comfort to give redemption and supernatural peace.<\/p>\n<p>Nor should Christians give in to despair, for we have hope that is alive. In the wake of the deadly tsunami in Haiti in 2004, David Bentley Hart <a href=\"https:\/\/firstthings.com\/tsunami-and-theodicy-haiti\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">penned<\/a> these words in First Things. They are just as instructive now as we grapple again with the &ldquo;death of a child&rdquo; and the &ldquo;tears of a small girl&rdquo;:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>As for comfort, when we seek it, I can imagine none greater than the happy knowledge that when I see the death of a child I do not see the face of God, but the face of His enemy. &hellip; [This faith] has set us free from optimism, and taught us hope instead. We can rejoice that we are saved not through the immanent mechanisms of history and nature, but by grace; that God will not unite all of history&rsquo;s many strands in one great synthesis, but will judge much of history false and damnable; that He will not simply reveal the sublime logic of fallen nature, but will strike off the fetters in which creation languishes; and that, rather than showing us how the tears of a small girl suffering in the dark were necessary for the building of the Kingdom, He will instead raise her up and wipe away all tears from her eyes &mdash; and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor any more pain, for the former things will have passed away, and He that sits upon the throne will say, &ldquo;Behold, I make all things new.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>May we cling to this hope, as the hope-giver clings faithfully to us. And may we remind ourselves of the unshakable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John%201&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">truth from the Apostle John<\/a> that, even as we walk <em>through<\/em> the valley of the <em>shadow<\/em> of death, &ldquo;The light,&rdquo; which is to say Christ, &ldquo;shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Kylee Griswold is the managing editor of The Federalist and a contributor to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iwfeatures.com\/\">IW Features<\/a>. She previously worked as the copy editor for the Washington Examiner magazine and as an editor and producer at National Geographic. She holds a B.S. in communication arts\/speech and an A.S. in criminal justice and writes on topics including feminism and gender issues, religion, and the media. Follow her on Twitter <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/kyleezempel\">@kyleezempel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas flash flooding death toll exceeds 100, many missing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":994,"featured_media":2456665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Guadalupe-River-Flooding-2025.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[7072,6499,5250,11481,3694],"class_list":["post-2456664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-christians","tag-death","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-texas"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Guadalupe-River-Flooding-2025.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/994"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456664"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2456668,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456664\/revisions\/2456668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2456665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}