“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cups overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” - Psalm 23
For the past few months I’ve slowly written, discarded, and renewed sticky notes all over my room. I really enjoy the simple, yet powerful reminders they are to me throughout my day. I have some that have song lyrics on them, scripture, prayers, etc.
The other day I was in my room. As I was grabbing stuff to quickly run out the door, I stopped and noticed a sticky notes on my wall that said:
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.”
As I read that, my mind immediately started to wander to what it meant. What it meant for the Lord to truly be my Shepherd and because of that simple fact, I now lack nothing in my life.
To be completely honest, when I first read that, my reaction wasn’t, “Yes! I lack nothing because the Lord is my Shepherd.” My first thought was actually, “Man… sometimes I feel like I lack everything.” How to be a good friend, sister, daughter, athlete, the list could go on forever. And even though I know the Lord has been so faithful in my life and I find security in Him, I still catch myself wishing things looked or felt different sometimes.
But the more I sat with that sticky note, the more I realized something. The verse doesn’t say I feel like I lack nothing. It says that because the Lord is my Shepherd, I actually don’t.
In order to fully understand what this all means I decided to go back and read Psalm 23.
A shepherd’s job is to guide, protect, provide, and care for his sheep. Sheep don’t always know where the green pasture is or where the still water is but the shepherd does. And maybe that’s the whole point.
Maybe “I lack nothing” doesn’t mean I’ll never feel insecure, confused, or like I’m falling short. Maybe it means that in the middle of all of that, I’m still being led. I’m still being provided for. I’m still being cared for by a Shepherd who knows exactly what I need, even when I don’t.
There is freedom in being a sheep. Because it means you get to be led by the one who knows far more than you could ever imagine.
I pray we can all have the perspective of a sheep who is being led by a shepherd. The Shepherd knows and wants whats best for us, we just need to trust Him.
