The Lord Is My Shepherd 6/22/2019

Good Morning,

Happy Saturday to you. I hope your morning coffee is as tasty as my Door County Caramel Latte is. Mine is very hot, to the point of steaming in the cup, just the way I like it.

Now and then when things in life get a little out of hand I lean on the Book of Psalms to lead me in my prayer life. You too might experience those times when it is even hard to pray. I have even asked myself "Why pray? God is going to do whatever He is going to do and what difference does it make if I pray or not". When I get to that point I realize that my little train called Marty is coming off of the tracks and I have lost focus. I turn to the Psalms and it's usually the 23rd Psalm that I run to. I read it and I use it as my prayer. Most of our life is spent praying for something that happened in our lives. Or it could be that we are praying for someone we love who is experiencing a rough road. I would have to say that for as long as I can remember there has always been a need to pray for something that impacted my life or others in a rough way. My first experience with reality was at a very young age when my Uncle was dying from cancer. Cancer was a new word to me but it didn't sound good. I could not imagine my cousins losing their dad. I remember going to church and praying for him and I was only in the second grade at the time. Every year of my 62 years on Earth has brought me to that point. I have seen some miracles that I attributed to prayer and I have seen God just answer "No" and the event goes ahead into calamity, then we get through it.

It's at these times that my prayers become more intimate with God. He uses these times to have me lean on Him, and acknowledge His omnipresence and power. We talk and I share my heart. It's at times like these that I admit my inability to know the future, but acknowledge Who does hold the future.  I affirm my love for God by saying "Your will be done" placing the situation in His hands, where it already is. I am just releasing my desire to control it.

Psalm 23 New International Version (NIV)

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

³     he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

    for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk

    through the darkest valley,^[a]

I will fear no evil,

    for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me

    in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows.

⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me

    all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

    forever.

When we walk and talk with the great Shepherd we are admitting our weakness and how much we need Him to guide us, feed us and protect us. We run to Him like children scared by the terrors of the night. We tell Him are woes and he listens. His answers are not always what we want but they are what we are going to get. He anoints our heads with oil identifying us as His, but He never promises that we won't see a viper in our lives. But if we are attacked by evil we are under His watch. We can hide in Him.

More than a mouthful today, but if this is where you are in life. Keep praying, don't stop. Run to God, let Him hear your intimate pleas and know that He will carry you through and He holds the future. Watch for His lead even when things are at their darkest. It's at these time when we grow closer to Him.

Marty