The Lord is my Shepherd*

There is just something about those words, "the Lord is my shepherd."  Yesterday, Forum Christian's high school youth minister, Justin, said something that stuck with me.  God is the shepherd and the lamb.  He can lead us and he dwells with us.  He doesn't just "lord" over us picking out what we do wrong and punishing us, he knows what we go through as he has gone through the same things. That is in part why he loves and takes care of us so well.

So this morning when the devo I have just started reading on a daily basis is about the idea of trusting in God with your whole being and is based around Psalm 23, that idea of Jesus as the shepherd and the lamb came up.  The devo, called Jesus Calling for any who are interested, finished today with this:

"Do not fear what this day, or any day, may bring your way.  Concentrate on trusting Me and on doing what needs to be done.  Relax in My sovereignty, remembering that I go before you, as well as with you, into each day.  Fear no evil, for I can bring good out of every situation you encounter."  

"I go before you, as well as with you, into each day."  A shepherd and a lamb.  The part of Psalm 23 that went with this devo was "Even 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."  Fear has been a big stumbling block for me during this support raising process.  Fear of calling. Fear of new people.  Fear of who knows what.  Fear of disappointing.  Recently it's been the fear of the unplanned.  I never planned for my support to take this long.  I don't even have an idea what going through this season during the summer even could look like. Along with this comes fear of disappointing.  I want to commit to things but I don't want to disappoint anyone if I have to drop out at the last minute. But what I'm realizing is I can't plan right now.  Not far ahead anyways.

But with that is the fact that I'm not supposed to be planning that far ahead.  James 4:13 and 14 even says "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."  I laugh as I write that because 3 years ago I wrapped up my time with the Jesus Film Project with 14 on my heart and mind. And now I struggle with them.  And when I go back to Psalm 23 it says it in another way "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."  HE restores my soul. HE leads. It goes on to say that HE prepares a table before me.  Psalm 23 has very little to do with us doing or planning anything.  We are the mist. We are the lamb.  We have no place as the shepherd.  That is God's part.  Only he is the lamb and the shepherd.  So what have we to fear.  He has gone before us.  He is with us. With every day.  Even if we have plans for it or not.


*(as a geeky sidenote I kept spelling shepherd shepard, because apparently I have been around too much Mass Effect as of late.)