He Leads Me

Recently, during a devotional time, someone read through Psalm 23 and asked us to grasp hold of one thought.  Take a moment and read through it on your own.  (From the NASB version.)

The LORD is my shepherd,
         I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I 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 have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life,And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

There is a lot to grab hold of there.  It is one of those scriptures that we memorize early on and easy to dismiss as childish.  At least I have.  Maybe not intentionally.  But I also keep forgetting that "the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (children.)"  Matthew 19:14

But that is a post for another day.  In Psalm 23 there is much depth and simplicity.  The thought that grabbed me this time was, "He leads me..."

Jesus does lead me.  He leads all of us.  My problem is, I try to lead myself a lot of times.  Stuff has to make sense.  I have to have a plan.  Data to be quantified and discussed and goals to achieve.  I've been doing this for the better part of 15+ years.

And most of "my plans" have done anything but get me where I want to be.  If anything I've gotten in my own way more often than not, and have all but stonewalled myself from getting to where I believe God wants me to be.

I've seen this first hand with sheep.  On my first trip to Africa I witnessed the sheep of the orphanage (and I mean literal sheep here) get out of their enclosure many times.  And almost every time I charged off to try and guide them back.  Now this comparison would work better if I had been their actual shepherd and they trusted me...but my goal was to get them back to safety.

Somewhere in their brains I think that is what they wanted, but they just kind of "go."  The one in front sets the pace, and the rest just follow.  But they were not doing what I wanted them to do.  They took a much longer, winding, pointless path to get back to their pen.  It would be 30-40 minutes before I got them back to their pen.  And of course they would charge into it like that was their goal all along.

And I'm the sheep.  Jesus is there guiding me where to go, but I'm wandering around...checking out this stick.  Investigating that shrub.  Running from the plastic bag that surely wants to attack me.

If I would just get out of my way, and listen to Jesus...I could end up where he wants me, how and when he wants me there.

So today, be encouraged to let Jesus lead you.  He has a better vantage point, and knows the land much better than we do.  Trust him.

It will not be danger free.  As the Psalm says, he will prepare a table in the presence of your enemies, and take you through the valley of the shadow of death...fear no evil, for he is with you.

I'm reminded of that bumper sticker, "God is my Co-Pilot."  While it's clever and funny for a car, it's the wrong concept to apply to living life.

Follow him.  Let Jesus lead you, and you will get to where he wants you to go.  And along the way, you'll realize that is exactly where you want to be.



grace, peace + hope
-Jesse