The familiar words of Psalm 23 continue to wind through my heart this week, but with a glimmer of something that I am just beginning to understand. It’s as if the comforting phrases are overlaid with the question “But do you really live that way?” I see that if I claim “The Lord is my Shepherd,” then it should probably change the way I face the circumstances of this day. I have a feeling that this Psalm will probably be more than a familiar recitation from now on. If I say “I lack nothing” and believe He is all-sufficient for me, maybe I should accept that what He gives me in the moment is enough, without worrying or complaining. Can I see in the ups and downs of my days that “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul”? Do I truly believe this, as God’s Word to me?– or am I just appreciating the picturesque poetry and approving of its content?
It’s fairly obvious that the best way to show my faith is to live it– to place the full weight of my hopes and actions on the Truth of God’s Word and Who He Is– otherwise it’s just hollow words. But so often there is this disconnect between what I believe and what I experience. I guess many of us are good at talking about what we believe, and many of us believe good things….but if we do not put enough stock in our beliefs to live them out, they are not really ours at all, are they? Un-tried beliefs are certainly not in a position to prove themselves to us (or to others) as trustworthy. It’s like Big Brother James says, “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” (James 1:23-24) See a facial crisis and just walk away and forget about it?…Ha! Sheer craziness from a woman’s perspective. Yet here I am, able to recite Psalm 23 with barely a thought to what I am declaring about my relationship with the Good Shepherd.
The only way to prove what I really believe is to act on it, and where those laudable declarations and good principles enter the dust and noise of everyday life they take on shape, substance that can make a difference in this world– the Truth becoming flesh once again. But of course, this is where things get difficult, because it is unexpectedly painful to submit emotions to faith, to fix my eyes on Jesus’ plans instead of on circumstances, to bend my will and perspectives to His ways. It is not an accident that Paul’s words evoke the taming of wild horses when he says “…we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) Obedience is the hardest thing I will ever do in this world. (Paul says it is warfare that will be the death of Me, so why would it be easy?) The good news is that the smallest step forward is worth celebrating, and every step counts toward the final goal. And every time the Holy Spirit brings words of Scripture to light– spotlights it so you can’t miss it and burrows it into your heart so you can’t forget it– the really sensible thing to do is pay attention and obey, start putting it into practice, one small step at a time.
Looking at the Shepherd’s Psalm with an eye to obedience makes me see how much God values my complete and peaceful trust. The sheep does not fear or stress about anything in its world, large or small, because he rests in the Shepherd’s provision of all things. It reminds me of the words Amy Carmichael wrote: “…we trust all that the love of God does– all He gives and all He does not give, all He says and all He does not say. To it all we say, by His loving enabling, ‘I trust.’ Let us be content with our Lord’s will, and tell Him so, and not disappoint Him by wishing for anything He does not give. The more we understand His love, the more we trust.” Now this is a sheep who knows and trusts her Shepherd.
Amy’s life is inspiring– she is one of those women whose faith shines just ahead in the Race and beckons other women to follow. As a single young woman, she left her home in Ireland to be trained by China Inland Mission for missions work; despite her frail health, which often left her weak and in pain for weeks on end, she eventually came to India where she spent the rest of her life showing God’s love in the most tangible forms to the helpless and cast-aside. Many of her later years were spent bed-ridden, but from her room she continued to write down what she was learning from the Good Shepherd, as a way to encourage the staff at her Dohnavur mission and orphanage, which cared for the children and women they rescued from temple prostitution and slavery. Hers were lessons learned in countless small ways, again and again, in the course of ordinary days and extraordinary difficulties, loneliness, and illness, till we can look back at her life and call it remarkable. At one point, she wrote, “Sometimes when we read the words of those who have been more than conquerors, we feel almost despondent. ‘I shall never be like that,’ we feel. But they won through, step by step– by little acts of will, little denials of self, little inward victories; by faithfulness in very little things, they became what they are. No one sees these little hidden steps; they only see the accomplishment; but even so, those small steps were taken. There is no sudden triumph, no spiritual maturity that is the work of a moment. So let us take courage….”
Take courage indeed, beloved sheep, and do not hesitate to act on what Jesus tells us, because we can trust in our Shepherd’s care. Step into the Spirit’s light, and prove it.
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“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus name.
Christ alone, Cornerstone–
Weak made strong in the Saviour’s love;
Through the storm, He is Lord…
Lord of all.”
(Cornerstone, Hillsong)
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“He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:3-4)