April 2

Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
April 2

Scripture reading for today: 2 Peter 2 and 3

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 NIV

I shall not be in want. I shall not be in want. Can you imagine never being in want? Before we get into a discussion about not being in want, let’s review. “The Lord is my shepherd…” is the precursor to “I shall not be in want.” Think of the first verse of Psalms like an “If…then” statement. Verse one reframed: If the Lord is my shepherd, then I shall not be in want. This state of satisfaction and contentment does not come with a pair of ruby red slippers like Dorothy wore in The Wizard of Oz. We can’t just click our heels together and hope that all our needs will be met. No, learning how to live contently presumes that we’ve made the decision to follow God. If I am to be a person who is not in a perpetual state of “wanting,” then I better figure out what it means to follow the good shepherd. Step four is the next step in developing a skill that will enable us to do just that.

You must pay close attention to what they wrote (“they” being those who witnessed the splendor of Jesus), for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place – until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. NO, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:19-21 NLT

So now you see. Part of deciding to trust means that we must say those things that are true, even when those true things don’t match our current life experience.

Thought for today: Don’t forget – first we’ve acknowledged our powerlessness and life unmanageability, second we came to believe that God could restore us, and then we took the third step – deciding to entrust ourselves to God. Now we’re on step four. Implied in the first three steps is the acknowledgement that you and I have struggled with seeing God, ourselves and others accurately. Our reality confusion may be because we don’t have the necessary skill sets AND/OR we really don’t want to see the real deal. This needs to change.

Thought for tomorrow: You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
We need to wrestle with the truth – God says He is our shepherd and we will not be in want – against the backdrop of our perceived reality – we want we want we want. Step four will help us sort out our perceptions and reality.

April 2
Teresa McBean