Something uncanny happened today. Well, maybe it's not uncanny -- maybe it's just a God thing.
My old pastor and friend, Pastor Kelvin Wilson, sent me some cute antidotes that originated from children. One of them really struck me:
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class
memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible - Psalm 23
She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter. Little Rick
was excited about the task - but he just couldn't remember the Psalm.
After much practice, he could barely get past the first
line. On the day that the kids were scheduled to
recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was
so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the
microphone and said proudly, "The Lord is my Shepherd,
and that's all I need to know."
That last line might be the best sermon I've ever heard:
"The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know.
I've been wrestling, wrestling with vocation questions - wondering if I should leave IBM and just seek God for the next thing. To do so would mean living a very spartan existence for a few months, with hopes that I'd secure whatever that "next thing" is before my money ran out. I'd have enough to live on for about 8 months. My hope is that it would only take about 6 months. However, that means 6 months with no health benefits for me and Jonathan. More important, 6 months of NO HEALTH BENEFITS FOR JONATHAN. So, I take pause and wonder if what I'm sensing in my spirit is truly the right thing to do. Leave? Leave good pay, great colleagues, and health benefits for some great unknown?? Can't I be led into that "next thing" AND work at the same time??
No.
My spirit keeps telling me no, no you can't. Trust God to take care of you and Jonathan. Trust Him to be the Shepherd of your lives.
So, all these thoughts have been rolling around and around inside me these past few weeks, and while residing in this frame of reference, I get this little sermon, out of the mouth of a babe. And then, just to make sure I get the point, I also, on the same day, receive a devotion that goes into nitty gritty detail about the work of Shepherds and how sheep respond to their leadership. These lines in particular struck me:
I began to understand the incredible truth that Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, has planned my very existence, prepared a plan in response to His love for me, and even made provision for the payment of my past, present and future sin. I am wanted, chosen and marked for God. I no longer have to live life on my own because I have a Shepherd. God's love precedes me, goes before me and surrounds me as I live each day. Knowing we are loved fosters peace in our hearts, and when our hearts are filled with peace, there is little room for stress.
Actually, when you think about it, sheep don't come across as stressed-out creatures. In fact, they seem almost oblivious to danger. Sheep don't seem to worry about where their next meal is coming from, if they will have a place to sleep each night, when the next enemy or thief will attack, or even what the next day holds. When sheep are sick or in need, they simply turn to their Shepherd, instinctively knowing He will take care of them and comfort them until healing comes.
We need to remember and often revisit the fact that we are all sheep and that Jesus Christ really is our Shepherd and nothing else really matters.
(Mary Southerland - "Girlfriends in God - October 6, 2011)
I was moved to re-read Psalm 23 (I really should have it memorized). Here are the verses in the New King James translation:
1 The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell[a] in the house of the LORD
Forever.
The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know...
Jesus Christ really is our Shepherd and nothing else really matters...
Uncanny, uncanny, uncanny.
So, God, so God, so God...
He's speaking to me. And I believe that He's speaking to my present circumstances. He knows what's spinning in my head and heart. He knows how I've been pleading with him for direction and guidance. I have to understand that He is my Shepherd. He wants to lead and protect and care for me like a good Shepherd does for all of His sheep:
Sheep don't seem to worry about where their next meal is coming from, if they will have a place to sleep each night, when the next enemy or thief will attack, or even what the next day holds.
Why worry when you have complete trust in your Master?
He wants me to trust Him to be the faithful God that I proclaim Him to be. He wants me to step out in my most Holy Faith and believe that He is and can take care of us. That what appears crazy to some (even myself) makes perfectly good sense to Him.
Lord, teach me, enable me, to trust you more. I need to trust you more...
