Currently, I am learning what it means to fully follow God without having any fear of the uncertainty it puts on my future. Hesitancy in making decisions to follow God is something that I have struggled with over the past few years. This hesitancy often comes from going into a situation that has no guaranteed outcome, for instance, going on the World Race. There is no guarantee of anything. When signing up I knew that I would learn a lot and come out different, but what the heck does that really mean? What visible or measurable changes are there?
Plans on the other hand are something that I have always enjoyed. Plans/structure are easy for me because I know exactly what to expect at different moments in time. For example, let’s look at a professional career. In many a careers I could tell you exactly where someone would be in the following 5 or 10 years. There typically is a plan and a way to move up. There is structure that is followed.
Following God is often a long ways off from following a plan. There is no certainty where you may be in 5 or 10 years. There are a lot of unknowns which can be pretty scary. But, instead of living in fear with not knowing my future, I am now living as a man following the Lord as my Shepard. The following verses are from Psalm 23.
The Lord is my Shepard; 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 on the path of righteousness for his names 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 goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house of the lord forever.
In this psalm we are symbolized as sheep and God is the Shepard. For those of you that don’t know, sheep are among one of the least intelligent animals alive today (if one runs off a cliff, many from the rest of the flock will also run off and die). Sheep (domesticated) have to be lead and protected or they will never make it. They won’t be able to find enough food, they will drown, or they will be attacked by wild animals (they have no defense mechanisms).
Following through this Psalm, we see the importance that the Shepard has. The Shepard will lead the sheep to an area that has plentiful food. He will lead them to an area with the greenest grass to help the sheep remain in the best health. Also, to an area where they can rest.
The Shepard will lead the sheep to still waters to drink. He will not lead the sheep to rushing waters as it is not safe for them. If the sheep were to fall in the water their wool would soak up water and would become extremely heavy. This could pull the sheep under the surface and cause them to drown.
In Israel there were two very different climates. One was in the low country and one was in the high country. The low country produced plenty of grass for half of the year (winter/spring) and the high country produces plenty of grass for the other half of the year. In the summer the heat scorches the lowlands and in the winter the highlands are very cold. Because of this, a bi annual trip was needed to go between these areas. The pathway between them was through the rocky valleys which were very dangerous. If there was one misstep, then any animal would fall to its death. One top of that, there were many predators that roamed through these areas, including bears and lions. The Shepard’s could protect the sheep. He had at least a sling and stone, a rod, or a staff.
As you can see, any good Shepard truly takes care of his sheep. He makes sure they are safe, fed, and rested. He leads them both in pleasant times of grazing and in dangerous times of travel.
God is not just any Shepard. He is The Shepard, the only one, the creator of everything. If I follow God, will he not provide much more for me than I can provide for myself? Is there any chance I could find my way by wandering around on my own?
The truth is, there are many things I probably could do by myself. I could get a good job, make a lot of money, and have a lot of material possessions and material achievements. But really how important are these things?
Having money can be great because it can provide entertainment and comfort. It can allow for many different things, such as traveling, buying the newest toys, going out for the best food, going to the coolest sporting events, etc. But money is not a cure all, solve all. It can bring about temporary joy, but the joy is just that, temporary. Traveling to new places, getting new toys, going out for the best food, or sports games do not bring long lasting happiness. They bring happiness for the moment and maybe the next few days, but that happiness will fade. Through my travels I have noticed that people use money to seek happiness. So many people are chasing it, catching it for only a moment, not finding the joy that lasts.
Had I not come on the race, I believe my life would be very different. I would still be chasing joy and would only be finding it for a moment at a time. I would be chasing financial success. But, when would that success actually be achieved? Knowing myself, I don’t think I would have ever been satisfied. I wouldn’t have ever been happy enough with what I had. Every time I would succeed and improve at something, it wouldn’t be enough. I would always want more, because I viewed happiness by success. I mean, your level of success must mean you are happier, right?
Luckily this is not the way I think anymore. Instead, I have found that there is joy in the unknown. There is joy in not having any certainty in where I am going. There is joy in following a plan that I cannot see. This is because when I am living for something bigger than myself, for God, I never know what is around the next turn. I never know who I will meet next, or who I will have an impact on. The only thing I know is that the Lord is my Shepard. I am fed, I am brought beside still waters, I am led through hard times, I find rest in the most peaceful places, and I am protected from those that oppose me. I overflow with God. I overflow with Joy.
My cup overflows, because God keeps on pouring even when I have all that I need. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
