The 23rd Psalm has always been one of my favorite passages, but it wasn’t until a recent devotion that I picked up on a vital message I had previously overlooked.
I’m a TYPE-A in recovery, although some might say I missed the “recovery” part. I have historically kept many more balls in the air than I was created to juggle. My psyche apparently had to prove something to someone, and in order to make the point I had to stay busy.
As I write this, I’m nine days shy of my 66th birthday and have thankfully slowed down – a bit. This passage, however, speaks to me to slow down more often than I presently do, and with good reason to do so.
The first three verses read (NIV – New International Version):
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.
Did you catch the word “makes” in verse 2? I’d never really gotten that before. He makes us lie down; we are compelled to lie down so that we can rest. So that we can be still. So that we can lean into God and receive the gifts He has for us.
Can you see that? Can you feel that? Can you allow yourself to rest in the Lord and be filled with whatever it is you need to be the person He created you to be?
I pray you can. I pray I can. O, my friends, what joy there is in the Lord if we are just still and quiet long enough.
See you next time…
