Trusting God

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:3

A few weeks ago, I was blessed to share a meal with my ladies. These ladies are dear sisters and accountability partners. This group provides a place where we can be real and vulnerable. I can’t imagine doing life without them. We continuously challenge each other to dig deeper into our relationship with God so growing stagnant or complacent is not an option. Our Scripture passage this past month was Psalm 23 and it’s the main that reason I have a desire to dig into this passage a little deeper.

So join me and let’s dig deeper together!

“He restores my soul”

Our God is a God of restoration both physically and spiritually.

Have you ever found yourself empty and exhausted? Maybe you are in ministry and find yourself filling just enough to empty out for someone else each week and there never seems to be enough to keep you fed. Are you a parent of young children or teens and there is never a time that you are not giving or doing for someone else? Or maybe you find yourself with an empty nest or suddenly widowed and alone. Or perhaps you have made a life-altering decision that you are paying the consequences of. Whatever you find yourself facing, please remember, our God is a God of restoration.

Looking back at the first two verses of Psalm 23. Remember we talked about trusting our Shepherd to lead us; trusting Him to provide what we need just when we need it. Sometimes what we need is restoration. King David definitely could relate to being restored. The man after God’s own heart messed up royally and God restored him. When you get a chance, check out 2 Samuel 12:1-25 and Psalm 51 to see some of the process of David’s restoration. Many others throughout history have experienced God’s gift of restoration. Consider Job, (Job 42) Naomi, (Ruth 4:13-22) and Peter, (John 21:15-19) just to name a few!

I pray that you can trust that no matter where you find yourself, He can restore you as well.

“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

He leads me…There is that word again. Being lead is a voluntary thing; it’s not forced. We have to be willing to be lead, especially in the paths of righteousness. We have a tendency to go off on our own and sometimes we claim God directed us when in fact, it was our own thoughts and desires that lead us down our own path. God wants to lead us in righteousness for His name’s sake, not for ourselves.

What does that look like in daily life? How do we apply this to our lives so that we know for sure it is God leading and not ourselves?

One of those dear friends I spoke of earlier, suggested asking these questions in prayer. God, what do you want me to know about this situation? And what do you want me to do? Most times, the Lord is working in our lives, molding us, preparing us, using us. It’s important that we become aware of that and that He is always revealing Himself to us if we are paying attention and open to see. Everything is for His name’s sake, His glory and if it’s not, it’s not His path but our own.

Which brings me to the second question, what do You want me to do? If we have taken the time to seek what God wants us to see, learn, or know then we are much more open to whatever action He has for us to do. Please hear me clearly, whatever you feel He wants you to do, it will NOT contradict His Word or His character. And as my friend reminded me, sometimes his answer is, nothing. He may just want you to be still and know He is the good Shepherd that is looking out for your best interests and that very well may be to just rest in Him.