Psalm 23
The most recited/known passage of the Bible and I've never really paid that much attention to it, until this morning. The Lord is my shepherd. Fitting for us followers because sheep are dumb and they don't always do what is best for them. A shepherd will protect his flock no matter what the cost. He wants the best for them. The shepherd can see the wolf coming because that is his job. He knows where the good pastures and clean waters are because he knows the area. And the sheep will be safe if they just follow the shepherd - because He knows where he's heading and He has the best interest of the sheep at heart. The shepherd knows what is best for the flock, whether they need more food, water, rest, etc. and the good shepherd makes sure his flock does not need or want for anything.
"He makes me lie down in green pastures." As our guest pastor said this morning, sometimes God puts us in a time-out, and trust me we need it. He makes us sit back and think so we can learn. Most of the time this is a painful process because it usually means things are taken away from us or everything seems to be falling apart. We've all heard that rock bottom is a good place to be because the only direction to go is up, which is true, but that doesn't mean that it won't hurt like hell. So why would God make us go through this? There could be many reasons:
1- God demands that He be first in our lives. Period. And I think we owe Him that. And since we're usually stubborn and yes, stupid, it takes a "time-out" to realize that we haven't been putting God first and we need to change that.
2- He truly does have better things prepared for us, we just can't see them yet. And we're too impatient or focused on the negative to realize there is better coming.
3- It's a growing experience. We will learn more than we could imagine from the trials we go through and we will be stronger on the other side of the ordeal (even though it may take seemingly forever for us to get there).
4- It's to glorify God and strengthen our testimony. What if someone in your life/realm of influence is going through a similar situation but they're not a believer and they see your faithfulness through it all? What if it's to show nonbelievers (and sometimes even believers) just how awesome and powerful our God is?
Some people may say well this is crappy, I'm not sure I want to go through that. But the beauty of this part of the passage is, "He makes me lie down in green pastures. Even though we may be going through a hard time and we can't seem to see any light at the end of the tunnel, God is still providing for us. He's making us lie down in green, healthy, nutrition filled pastures. He's not abandoning us in a desert to learn a lesson the hard way. He puts us in a place where we can be spiritually fed and grow and learn. He is making us take the time to do that so we can handle whatever life throws at us next.
So what are your green pastures? Maybe it's a renewed passion to dive into His word to find comfort in Scripture. Or maybe you've begun to realize how blessed you are with the family/friends around you. Or that you can't really control things going on around you so you need to stop trying and let God. Or maybe you've realized you don't have the strength to keep doing it all, you're at rock bottom and ready to let go - this is where God can really show you how amazing He is. I'm not just pulling this stuff out of the air, these are all things that I have realized about myself in the past couple of months. Trust me, it has not been a fun or easy experience. It hurts - a lot. And no, I haven't learned all I can learn. I am still hurting a lot and I am still learning a lot, so this is why this passage and message struck me so hard.
Look for your green pastures and hold onto them because that is God still providing for you and there is so so so much to learn while you're resting in those green pastures.
