March 29

Shepherd’s Psalm

            The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  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.

Psalm 23:1-6

             Complete trust.  That is what the Psalmist is describing.  He has complete trust in his Lord.  The sheep rely on the shepherd to provide food and safety and rest and direction.  A sheep that is left on its own is a dead sheep.  It will get eaten by a predator or lost or hurt or confused…the author mentions “quiet waters.”  Do you know why a sheep needs quiet or still waters?  It is because when they stand on the banks of a flowing stream, they get dizzy watching the water flow past.  They will just stand there getting dizzier and dizzier until they fall into the stream and drown.

            The shepherd’s job is to keep the sheep alive, healthy and secure.  The opening line states that since the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.  And yet…I feel like I lack so much.  I lack money; I lack time; I lack patience; I lack wisdom.  My parenting seems to be filled with lack as I am regularly confused and overwhelmed and angry that I don’t know what to do next.  The day-to-day and moment-to-moment realities of my life do not seem to be reflected in the psalm, and I’m not sure why.  Am I just not good at being a sheep?  Am I looking to go off on my own instead of being lead by the shepherd?  Maybe goodness and love and refreshment and peace are all things that come in the afterlife and they are just a promise for those of us on this side of death?

            The Psalmist does not seem to be talking about the future hope of eternity; he seems to be suggesting that this can be the reality that we live in.  We can be filled with peace and contentment.  We can walk without fear and have a heart that overflows.  That is all available for us because the God who was Lord of the Psalmist is our Lord too.  I think that one of the major things that hold us back is not that we are bad sheep…it is that we don’t trust the shepherd with our lambs.

            As a parent it is my role, my responsibility, my privilege to take care of the children that God has entrusted to me.  It is my job to feed and clothe and shelter and instruct them.  It is my job to equip them to face the world and then send them out to lead their own lives and mature into adults.  At some point in that process, there is a time where they stop depending on us and begin to follow the Good Shepherd on their own.  At least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

            How does that journey work for our kids who will never be independent and stop relying on us?  How do they follow the Good Shepherd when they can’t follow directions to put on their coat?  Jesus loves them and cares for them, but He cannot change them or feed them or attend their POC meetings.

            Truthfully, I do not know the answers.  I have guesses and estimates about how it will work, but I don’t know.  Even if I could put together the best plan with the best resources and dozens of contingencies accounted for…life has a way of throwing wrenches into the best laid plans.  What we come back to is trust.  Complete trust.  Trust that God is good and loves us and loves our children and will be with them even when we cannot.  Trust that He is leading us to a good place where we will find sustenance and freedom and rest.  Trust that He will do the same for our children.

            Trust is a choice.  I choose to believe that the Lord is my Shepherd.  I will not fear.

A moment to reflect:

Who do you trust with your child’s future?