Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me

Psalm 23:4-Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (NASB). Now many of us as both a child and an adult either heard or recited this verse when we hear Psalm 23. I wonder if we ever deconstructed or answered this question - what is a rod and staff? Well it is interesting to think about because we mature in the word, we must go deeper into the word…smiling. Rod is define in its many definitions as discipline and punishment, while among staff many definitions, it means to carried as a symbol authority or office, and use to lean on for support. Well, if you read Psalm 94:12-13 -Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O LORD, And whom You teach out of Your law; That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity, Until a pit is dug for the wicked. Meaning God discipline us, and we are blessed for it, as we receive relief from adversity because He is the authority. Makes you stop and think a little differently about God’s hand. We forget a loving God likening unto a loving parent disciplines his children for their good, because of His love and desire for our joy. God’s discipline does not leave us bitter, only better with an improved disposition in spite of the pain and tears shed. For me, I look at the verse differently. I do see God providing the rod and staff to keep us in line as we walk on this journey for discipline and support for us, and remains the only authority to follow. See, us walking through the valley; represent us at a low point in our life. We tend to act more from an emotional driven focus or state, rather than any other time in our life. The rod and the staff keeps on the divine path, so we do not let the fear evil that comes upon us, or surround us overtake us, we do not succumb. However, we do not always appreciate the rod and staff of God in our life. We wrestle with it, we question why, and seek to find another way, as if it was, not realizing as a parent rears a child to become a responsible person so does our Father in Heaven. A person of integrity, accountability, and love, the parent seeks to instill into the child, and it never stops...smiling…Would our Father, do no less for us by providing a rod, correction, discipline, and the staff, support and a shoulder to lean on so we would we would not be afraid as we traverse this Christian journey? I think not…smiling…Having our Father present with the rod and staff allows us to do more than just repeat or apply his word to others, but also to act on them and have them work ‘self’. Without the rod and staff of God in our life, we shall surely fail as we lose sight of the righteous, the truthful, and the godliness… Your rod and staff, they comfort me…Think about it; I have and am blessed for taking this journey into learning more about God words and better understand why those simple verse are repeat so much...