His Rod and Staff

This may be fairly redundant...but I guess sometimes redundancy helps us remember things more easily when our brains are too stressed to process information on its own. Anyway, I was just reading the 23rd Psalm, and there's the part that goes, "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." When I read that passage one time in Medicine Hat, it struck me that God didn't take the Psalmist out of the valley of the shadow of death. He simply led him through that hell, and the Psalmist's only comfort was in keeping his eyes on the rod and staff. He was still in the valley, but his eyes were on something far greater than the evils around him, following it with childlike trust. And Peter on the water...up until he faltered and sank, his impossible circumstance was not affecting him because of where his focus lay. Then when he lost his focus, grace was extended anyway...jeepers, it really is true that we can never fathom God's grace. It's the only reason we ever truly grow in our relationships with Him. He is amazing!