Shepherded much?

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. (Psalm 23:1-3)

We might equate this psalm with funerals, but I tend to equate it with normal, everyday life. Why? Read it again and you will see it speaks of provision, protection, and passages - something 'dead people' no longer require! As the Lord 'shepherds' our lives, we have all that we need - nothing is outside of his provision - all good things come from his hand.

All that we need - nothing that is needed lacking, but maybe not every 'want' met. I know I have said this before, but there is a huge difference sometimes between what I need and what I want. I want the chocolate bar - I need the piece of fruit. I want the shiny new truck - I need reliable, practical transportation. Need and want are sometimes a bit hard for us to differentiate, but when God is trusted to be our provider, giving us all we need, it becomes a bit easier to separate the two.

Led into rest - nothing is more frustrating to us than to be in dire need of rest than to find we are unable to shut things off in our minds or emotions. There have been times when I have gone to bed so 'keyed up' that I found it hard to shut it all down. Emotions were running high, thoughts were whirling every which way in my mind, and there I was, tossing and turning, trying to rest, but unable to do so. Why? I wasn't letting him 'lead' me into rest. There are more than times when we need his leading in this area than we might imagine. Ask for his rest, trust him with the unsettled emotions, and let his Word invade your mind instead of all that other stuff and see how quickly rest comes.

Renewed strength and right paths - we don't need strength for the new day if we don't plan on walking down the path he lays out before us, do we? There are times when we all are bewildered about where he is leading, but I know this for sure - no path that he directed me down has ever been the 'wrong one'. The strength to walk down it wasn't even my own - it was his within me. How about you? Needing a bit of 'leading' today? Feeling like you are about to go down a path that will require 'supernatural' strength? Then just lean into him - he has already prepared the path, scouted out the best course to get us from here to there, and even gives us the strength to take each new step. Just sayin!

He walks ahead

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” (John 10:1-5)

Those words "he walks ahead of them" really caught my attention this morning. Jesus goes ahead of us in all aspects of life. He sets the pace, keeps us on track, watches for obstacles in our path, and shelters us from things we may not even notice that could do us harm. So many times, I think we get Jesus' position in our lives a bit out of order. It is as though we think we have this all figured out, things are running smoothly, and we just forget his place is out in front of us, not behind us or off to the side. If you have ever tried finding your way in life without him in the right place, you know just how many things 'came up' that you had no idea you would encounter!

Do you know why his position is out ahead of us? It is because he is moving us to a more 'advantageous position'. He knows our lives involve movement and he wants to ensure our movement is toward what he has planned for us. He isn't just 'out there' because he protects us - he is there because he sees what we don't and knows what we are yet to perceive. He is moving us into a more advantageous position - he leads, and we follow. To quote the Mandalorian, "This is the way." If we want more in life, we must be content to follow - for 'more' is not found by accident.

While it is important to remember his sheep recognize his voice, it is also important to realize that knowing his voice comes because we stay close enough to him to actually learn what that voice sounds like. We might spend years making phone calls to a 'pal' we have meet online, getting to know them by what they share in these conversations. Does that mean we will recognize them when they come off a plane at the airport? Not unless they speak to us! When we hear that all too familiar voice, we 'know' it is them. All the people wearing similar colors as our pal said he would wear that day only serve to confuse us, until we hear that voice.

Get to know the voice of Jesus and you will not be led astray by other voices. The one who seeks the more advantageous position in life learns his voice and is watching for his movements so they can stay right there with him out ahead, leading and preparing the way for them. Just sayin!