WATCHWORD:
1 The Eternal is my shepherd, He cares for me always. 2 He provides me rest in rich, green fields beside streams of refreshing water. He soothes my fears;
3 He makes me whole again, steering me off worn, hard paths to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name.
4 Even in the unending shadows of death’s darkness, I am not overcome by fear. Because You are with me in those dark moments, near with Your protection and guidance, I am comforted.
5 You spread out a table before me, provisions in the midst of attack from my enemies;
You care for all my needs, anointing my head with soothing, fragrant oil, filling my cup again and again with Your grace.
6 Certainly Your faithful protection and loving provision will pursue me where I go, always, everywhere. I will always be with the Eternal, in Your house forever. Psalm 23:1-6 The Voice
Meditation:
I Shall Not Want
We can all remember painful and difficult seasons of our lives, times when we’ve felt discouraged and fearful, had no idea where we were going or what we are to do. Those moments when we felt an intense sense of aloneness. What do we do? What did you do? Often times that is when we need to feel the presence of the Lord. Maybe it comes to you in the music, or a conversation overheard, or what you can see out your window, or just a thought, planted years before and now, at this moment re-emerges to give you a sense of peace.
Like many of you, I have experienced the loss of a loved one, someone who has been so close and so important that his or her absence has left a void. It took me some time to be able to navigate around that void, to get out of the habit of waiting for her at various times before I realized she was not coming.
In the absence of my loved one, I’ve often checked off the list of friends who I might find comfort with, with whom I can share this emptiness, only to come up feeling more empty and alone. Then there was that moment, long months after my loved one was with Jesus, as I sat reading devotionals and trying to get my life centered, that I became aware of a voice, not a spoken voice, as such, but a thought an inspirational thought. Like so many of us, I thought that’s my conscience talking to me. I suppose you can call it anything you want but if it is right, and if it is true, and if it leads you to a better place, that’s the spirit of God within you. Pay attention! I did, and He pulled me out of the darkness.
Nearly twenty-five years ago, our family went through a very difficult time when our 11-year-old grandson was admitted to Riley’s Children Hospital with a diagnosis of leukemia. As my wife and I were leaving the hospital with our granddaughter, I took my son-in-law aside, said a little prayer of encouragement, “God is in charge and He loves us.”
On the way home I thought about what I had said, and when we pulled into the garage, I stood in front of a blackboard that we had against the wall and wrote, ‘God is in charge and God loves us.’ That was 25 years ago and that blackboard is still carries that statement. One of the kids added one more statement, ‘and God loves us’. It’s important to be reminded who is really in control when we are going through rough patches in our lives.
Charles Stanley wrote a little book entitled “God is in Control, an Unshakable Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms,” and in that he makes this statement: “When a person can come to the place in life where they can say with absolute unwavering conviction, ‘Yes, but my God is in control,”‘there is an awesome sense of strength and assurance that will fill the heart to overflow with an indescribable joy and peace no matter what the challenges we face in life, this peace remains.”
It was so with my family. At that moment, there in the hospital, we did not know how we were going to get through this, but God had a plan and He gave us the Peace we needed. The grandson? He is in his mid-30’s, married, with a son of his own. That is the nature of God’s peace.
Never ignore the ‘voice’ of the Holy Spirit, whatever form it takes. God is in control and He will let you know. So be it.
Praying The Shepherd’s Psalm:
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. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. Amen.
