Our Shepherd

I’ve been in a mega migraine since Saturday evening. I was reading Psalm 23 to find comfort.  I read on Sunday from my Experiencing God journal.  Psalm 23:3  “He leads me along the right paths for His name sake.”  Isn’t this chapter so comforting? There is a reason some passages are so familiar and beloved- they speak to our hearts year after year and reach us right where we live. Saturday night I knew it was coming in like a freight train and I tried to prepare. Sunday it was in full swing and I couldn’t find enough ice packs to cover my head, Monday I was unable to move- sick from head to toe, today I’m just mad. I’ve powered through half the day while my head was raging- I knew I’d pay for it later but I was determined to not let this rule my day. I want so much for this to not be my identity but it seems lately I’m just living here without much of a break.  I feel guilty to even indulge complaining now with this burden I drag along, because I know so many people have much worse pain than I do – I will go along and fight the fight and try to “suffer in silence” as my Dad used to say to me. But sometimes it seems like an endless cycle of pain and unproductivity. I’m just admitting to the world today that I’m beat. Maybe these words I’m going to share will be an  encouragement to you if you are in pain of any sort today.   I’m just walking by faith not by sight… at all today.  I’m actually not walking I’m going to bed.  I thought I’d jot this down before I go under.

I know I’m loved by the Father and I’m thankful.

“Your Shepherd knows your every need.  He knows you will grow weary in your pilgrimage with Him.  He knows there are times you need rest.  Your shepherd knows just what you need to be refreshed.  At times you need to lie in lush meadows or beside quiet streams.  Sometimes you need to be held by your Shepherd.  At other times you need to enjoy the pleasures your Shepherd provides.  The Shepherd will not always replenish you in the same way; His response to you will always be perfectly correspond to your present need. As you follow your Shepherd there will be times when your soul becomes exhausted, perhaps because of trials you are experiencing or temptations you are resisting.  The persecution you face or the burdens you are carrying for others may be wearing you down.  You may be weary from the discipline the Shepherd has brought upon you.  There will be times when you feel you can go no further in your Christian pilgrimage.  Your Shepherd knows when you have reached this point, and he always has a remedy!  There are many ways He can strengthen you: through His word, through others, through your circumstances. He knows what you need even better than you do.”

Have you grown weary (like me)?  Does your soul need to be refreshed?  Don’t attempt to recover on your own. Only God knows how to heal and rejuvenate a soul.  He will do it perfectly, sometimes in surprising ways.  Ask Him to restore you, and then be prepared to respond to what He does next.” –  This portion was taken from Experiencing God Day by Day Feb 28.

Just Jesus,

Sheri Langley