Kept!

Kept!

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalms 23:1‭-‬2 KJV

I may not admit it; I may not want to own up to it, but I need guidance, discipline, protection, provision, safety, all from someone who knows my deepest fears. This confession comes from a position of relationship and personal experience. It is not for general application, where a man can hide under corporate fellowship to claim the blessing. God may give it, but of what use are blessings without the knowledge of the One who gives and sustains them?

Am I a part of the sheepfold of the Shepherd, or have I found an alternative fold that looks like the real thing but is not? The first verse here is the control verse; the one where I must sort out who I am and who I belong to. The rest of the chapter flows from this identity. 

Want is a fundamental part of the fallen human nature. I do not want, not because I am not human, but because my sustenance is not the type the world can explain, hinder or limit.

He MAKES me...... The shepherd knows the value of rest. He knows the value of quiet and refreshment. Even when I think I need to hurry and hustle, He MAKES me lie down. When I think it is best to strive by power, he reminds me that He is the One who can guarantee true rest for me. I may think I don't need it, but rest is part of the package from the shepherd. If I do not take it, He can compel me if He thinks it is best for me. That is why He is the shepherd, not me.

He LEADS me..... I can't go ahead of Him, as I do not know the way. He has to lead, I have to follow. The initiative about where to go and when to go lie with Him, not me. In all of these, I am the recipient, not the initiator. My opinion isn't really required here.

What is it about green pastures or still waters? Is it about nourishment even whilst working? It is a place of perpetual fruitfulness and nourishment, even when I am away from actual work. I do not have to keep working, labouring and grinding away; even when I am led to rest, the place of rest is also a place of nourishing. Psalm 1:3 says I am like a tree planted by streams of water.

No matter the storms, the winds or the waves, I am safe where he leads me; not because all around me is quiet, but because there is quiet inside me. He speaks about rest before He speaks about storms and trouble, because He wants me to know that in Him, it doesn't matter what comes at me. If I am where he has planted me, the storms find me in and with Him. So, where are you presently located? Are you kept IN His sheepfold, or do you have your own schemes? His time of favour is here.