He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
You can trust Him
Trust is a curious thing. It takes years to build it and one second to destroy it. Trust is built through integrity and genuine care between friends. Many of you have been crushed by unfaithfulness from spouses, hurtful conversations with friends, backstabbing from employers, and a false belief in culture and society to provide all our physical and psychological needs. Join the club. While I’ve never been crushed by an unfaithful spouse, I’ve dealt with each of the other trust issues.
Once you lose trust in someone how long does it take to regain that trust? Suppose your employer does something very disappointing or hurtful to you. Can you ever trust them again? How long would it take? Maybe never? I would say that trust is difficult to regain because we tend to guard ourselves against the hurt experienced by someone close to us.
Here’s the truth. You can trust God.
You can trust God to provide spiritual nourishment (v.2)
He makes you lie down in green pastures. Now we have to understand that God does not force you to lie down in green pastures. I also don’t believe it is too much to understand that these green pastures represent spiritual nourishment. I want you to think about how much a shepherd must think of his flock. The shepherd is not just some hired hand used to look over a bunch of wild animals that need corralling and protection. A shepherd is one who understands his flock and loves them.
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The Shepherd knows where the green grasses are and leads His sheep to those places because He knows several things.
First, He knows you need spiritual nourishment. Without spiritual nourishment, we would spiritually become malnourished and struggle to respond to life events appropriately. So He gives you what you desperately need because He “lavishes” His love on you (1 John 3:1).
So when God leads you to the green grass of spiritual nourishment you should accept His deep love for you and enjoy its benefits.
Second, He knows that without spiritual nourishment you will never fully reach the plans and purposes He has for your life. This is important because if you love God, then you certainly understand that He has so much for you and His plans are beyond what we can think or even imagine.
You should accept God’s spiritual nourishment (v.2)
This spiritual nourishment cannot happen unless you accept it. It is a two-part deal. The Shepherd can lead you to nourishment through His word, but if you fail to accept it that is on you. It is like sitting down for dinner and refusing to eat. When I did that as a child, I went to bed hungry. But, I did get up in the middle of the night and had a few snacks out of my mom’s kitchen snack drawer. Did any of you have a mom who had a snack drawer in the kitchen? She kept it full of really good stuff like chocolate, candy, junior mints, and cookies. I have the best mom!
While those snacks helped me make it through the night without starving (I was nowhere near starving), it also gave me no nourishment. Imagine only eating chocolate, candy, junior mints, and cookies all your life without any vegetables, fruit, or vitamins. You would shrivel up, have no strength, and be unable to function.
It’s the same way in your spiritual life. Without spiritual nourishment, you will not be able to fully enjoy the benefits of being a sheep of the Great Shepherd who loves you so much.
So now the ball is in your court. What will you do? Accepting God’s spiritual nourishment also requires reading and studying His word. Do you love God enough to commit yourself to His word and leading in your life?
Some Questions…
- How would you honestly define your spiritual life?
- What are you currently doing to accept and grow in your spiritual life?
- How far are you willing to go to grow in Christ? What are you willing to trade for studying the Bible and spending more time in prayer?