March 24, 2007

Step 3: . We made a decision to turn our life and will over to the care of God.

Scripture reading for today: Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness 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 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

Once, I was delivering a message at NorthStar Community – where I have been give the job title “minister.” I was talking about a personal spiritual struggle and this outburst of truthfulness elicited an unsolicited response. A visitor to our community came up and with great passion and no small amount of agitation and expressed her profound shock that I would dare suggest that I struggle.

“How can you say that? You’re a minister! You’re not supposed to struggle!” I’m not sure where this lady got her information. I only know this: if ministers don’t struggle, then I must not be a minister! I struggle – not all the time, but sometimes. If I’m brutally honest, I’d say I struggle with some degree of regularity. I’m ok with that and here’s why -

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35-36 NIV

My good shepherd knows that I will struggle and He loves me anyway. When I am harassed and helpless - He is filled with compassion. This good shepherd - the son of God - came for the very purpose of bringing good news to me – a desperately devoted follower who sometimes feels simply desperate. We, like sheep, were created to need The Shepherd. Although it is true that I am often powerless, it is always true that He is powerful beyond all comprehension. If you’ve felt like a lost sheep lately, will you take the time now to accept the compassion of the great healer himself – Jesus?

Thought for today: Sometimes it’s easy to get the false impression that step three is a once-and-done kind of proposition. You decide, God concurs. Bam. You’re in the fold. My experience is more like the laundry at my house. In a home full of adolescents and adults who like to run and jump and get really dirty, we need daily laundry runs to keep up with all our dirty clothes. When I get busy and distracted and forget to throw in the laundry each day, this chore quickly becomes messy and unmanageable. I get really cranky when this happens. I’m being honest here when I say this – I have days when I forget that I ever decided to trust God. And you know what? Very quickly my life gets messy and unmanageable, and I get really cranky.

Thought for tomorrow: So like my laundry, I’ve found myself in need of a daily decision: is today a day when I decide to trust God with my life, or is it one of those days when I grow forgetful – and choose to ignore God’s voice?

March 24
Teresa McBean