Trusting God

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:1-2

Psalm 23 is such a familiar passage and if you were raised in church or have been a follower of Jesus for a good while, you may even have this passage memorized. It is often used at funerals and to comfort those going through a difficult time. These are good things because there is comfort in the words of David but have you ever taken the time to hear what he is really saying?

I would like to spend the next few posts digging into Psalm 23 verse by verse and examine the truths God has for us.

“The Lord is my Shepherd.” Does that mean that we are sheep? If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you’ll know that we have embarked on a new adventure of farming. We have chickens and plan to get goats, turkeys, bees, and maybe some rabbits but I will NOT have sheep. If we decide to get an animal for wool, it will be an alpaca NOT a sheep. Why would I not even consider getting sheep? Number one reason, they are dumb. They also require a LOT of care; constantly needing to be wormed and medicated for one thing or another. I don’t believe I would have the patience to keep sheep. Which really got me thinking about how God refers to us as sheep many times in Scripture. That’s a little offending if you think about it, but unfortunately, it is so true. In a lot of ways, we are sheep.

Sheep will stay in one spot and eat the grass down to the roots continuing to just chew away until they are licking up the dirt. (one of the reasons they need to be wormed regularly) The shepherd needs to rotate their pastures, constantly providing them with fresh green grass.

Aren’t we like that? Staying right in one spot, refusing to move maybe because we are comfortable there or because we are to stubborn or disobedient to move where God wants us to go? We think that all we need is right where we are when in reality we are not thriving at all in fact we may even find ourselves getting sick.

“I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”

God provides for His sheep if they trust Him enough to follow Him to the green pastures He has for us. Have you ever found yourself wandering around in a barren field afraid to move where you know God is leading you?

“He leads me beside the still waters”

Again sheep are dumb. Did you know that they will not drink from a moving stream? I am not sure if they are scared of the water or just to stubborn whichever the case, the shepherd has to lead them to calm waters.

I want to encourage you today to follow your Shepherd. Even when you are stubbornly convinced staying where you are is the best choice, trust that He has your very best interests in mind. Allow Him to lead you to green pastures and still waters so that you can say, “The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want.”