For those who don’t know me, I’m a person who is greatly afraid of heights. I remember when my wife and I were in Dahilayan, Bukidnon. There was a zipline there which I heard is the longest in Asia. I'm not sure if it's true, but as we saw it, I realized it was the longest zipline I've ever seen. My wife loves exciting activities so she asked me to ride the zipline with her. I haven't ever told her I am afraid of heights, by the way. But just to make her happy and pleased, and not think that she'd married a scaredy-cat weakling, I did not say how petrified I was even with just the idea of riding the zipline. At the end of the line, I rode the zipline. The very moment we were wearing our gears, I was already contemplating and wanting to tell my wife that I am, in fact, afraid. But I managed to keep my calm until we were finally pushed gliding along the line. I couldn't even see the other end of the line and so I just closed my eyes. Then I ended up talking to the Lord about the cascading thoughts running through my mind.
"Lord, what if something gets broken in our gears?"
"What if the cable wires give up??? What will happen to us?"
"Is this already my last day?"
I kept my eyes closed the whole ride until such time I came to my senses that we are already at the end of the line. My wife greatly enjoyed the ride. I didn't. Because all the time, my eyes were closed and my mind was filled with worried thoughts. There were even photos captured where my eyes were all closed.
We miss very good opportunities when we close our eyes because of our fears. This happens a lot of times. There are times that we ask ourselves:
"What will happen to my future?"
"What will happen if I could not be able to join the ship right away?"
"What will happen if I tested positive with Covid-19?"
"What will happen if my embarkation got canceled?"
There are all these questions, and sometimes we ask the Lord:
"Lord, if I will do this thing, how sure am I that You will not let go of me at the end of the day?"
"If I will obey Your will, how sure is it that I will get through this?"
"What if a difficult problem will come into my life?"
"What if I'll be a blessing to the ship I'll be boarding on?"
"How about standing on preaching the Gospel there in the ship, can You assure me that You will be there?"
These are the questions that we sometimes have in our minds.
Amidst the situation we are in during this pandemic, we can end up asking God,
"Lord, what if this will last longer? What can I hope for?"
I want to tell you that He is more than enough.
1.) WE ARE LIKE SHEEP
David, who had been a shepherd, wrote in Psalms 23:1, “The LORD is my Shepherd, I lack nothing." (NIV)
In ESV, it says, “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
If you will notice here, the word 'Lord' is in capitalized. We can see here that this 'Lord' is translated to Jehovah; Yahweh (YWH). It means that He is a God who is so personal to us. Sometimes we only know God being an unfathomably great God, but right now, the Lord wants us to have a relationship with Him, just as a father is to a son. He is not a God who is very far but He wants to be the God who is so close and very personal to us. And that’s why David said, “The Lord is Shepherd.” That means he, himself, has experienced the Lord as his Shepherd. Now, in order for us to understand how David was able to say that the Lord is his Shepherd, we have to understand the very nature of a sheep. A sheep is known to be a pretty "dumb" and feeble creature; in continuous dependence and need of a shepherd's care and guidance. A sheep does not know whom to follow next without their shepherd. Let it leave the flock, it will wander away to where ever it's "dumb" head leads it and get lost, or worse, get preyed on by a predator given that it's defenseless. A sheep cannot even clean itself. With all of these, they are completely dependent on their shepherd for survival. Take away the shepherd, and the flock will be scattered.
That is the very nature of a sheep.
We need to understand why we need a shepherd. All of these are also the description that can be compared to us. In the situation we are in today, we are in fear. We are in endless trouble (literally and figuratively speaking). We are suffering, and the more we are struggling, the more we need a shepherd.
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
(Isaiah 53:6 ESV)
In our personal lives, who is the Lord to us? Is He also our Shepherd?
Just like a lost sheep, we don't know exactly where to go. Many times we get lost in our journeys. At times we get dirty because of what sin has been doing to us; and we cannot clean ourselves from it. Only the Lord, our Shepherd, can. There are also many times we are completely vulnerable to the attacks of our predators; and we cannot defend ourselves from these attacks. Only the Lord, our Shepherd, can.
That’s why, David said, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” David is telling himself, “Right now, at this moment, I really need the Shepherd.” Who is that Shepherd? That Shepherd is the Lord of his life.
2.) A SHEEP ALSO GROWS TIRED
“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,” (Psalms 23:2 NIV)
When it says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures” it means that a sheep also grows tired. It needs to rest. This is a description of stillness. It describes an environment that is relaxed. In our life - when we are troubled, when we are in fear, when we are suffering, when we are struggling - we somehow need a rest. The rest which our Shepherd is offering to all of us is not temporary; it is an eternal one. We can surely depend on it because the One preparing it is the Good Shepherd. That means that the Shepherd will take care, not just of our physical needs, but most importantly, Spiritual needs.
We all used to be spiritually not okay. And even every now and then, we need spiritual restoration. So when we take a rest in the presence of God, we can again find the spiritual restoration that we need.
3.) THE SHEPHERD WILL PROVIDE AMIDST OUR DIRECTIONAL NEEDS
“He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name's sake.” (Psalms 23:3 NIV)
What does this mean? The Shepherd will provide for our need for direction. When we look at our lives, we sometimes face a lot of options that we no longer know what and who we need to prioritize. But when we make the Lord our Shepherd, He will provide direction for us. He will give us the direction that would surely put us on the right path. I know that in this world, a lot of us are enjoying the benefits of the Global Positioning System (GPS). However, GPS cannot always give us the correct locations and directions for some reason. But our Shepherd, who is like our GPS (and even better) will not only lead us in the correct direction but will also give us correction along the way. That’s why when we are lost, He will come to us right away and tell us that you are drawing far from Him, only if we are humble as a sheep to hear and accept His leading. That’s what the Shepherd will do to us as His sheep. We are always directed to His path.
4.) THE SHEPHERD WILL MEET OUR EMOTIONAL NEEDS
“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.” (Psalms 23:4 ESV)
Here we can see that our Shepherd will meet our emotional needs.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” – the valley here is described as two mountains on both sides and the valley or plane is in the middle. In the valley, a sheep will think it's still 4 o'clock in the morning while it's already 6 o'clock because the mountains are covering the sun, casting a shadow on the mountain. Sometimes, because of the mountains of fear that we have, the “SON” is blocked that we can no longer see how the Lord is moving in our lives. It makes it seem like the night is too long for us to handle while we are not aware that the sun is already up - moving.
But if we make Jesus our Shepherd, he will surely be guiding us. He will be providing for our emotional needs. We have a lot of emotional needs. We might not know some of us are heartbroken, or deeply hurt, or disappointed. But Psalms 23:4 assures us that the Love of the Lord is here. His grace is here for everyone. Do not ever forget that our Shepherd will provide for us in our emotional needs.
5.) THE SHEPHERD WILL PROVIDE OUR MATERIAL NEEDS
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Psalms 23:5 ESV)
What does it mean that the Shepherd will provide for our physical needs? A good shepherd will always have in his bag food and cloth to feed and cover any lost sheep he could find separated from the flock. He would pour out the food on the table and he would allow that sheep to eat to regain its strength. If the sheep is wounded, he will anoint its wound with oil for it to heal faster. What's more amazing here is that the shepherd will always watch the sheep finishing its food making sure it won't be interrupted or threatened by anything. During the sheep's healing and regaining of strength, the shepherd will never leave its side or will bring the sheep wherever he goes.
This is because a lot of enemies will disturb the sheep whenever he is already eating. But because of the presence of his shepherd, the lost sheep’s strength will be restored because it was able to finish its food with interruption from his enemies.
If we make Him our Shepherd, even with the presence of COVID-1 or whatever disturbances there is from the enemy that will cause fear, but it will not get to us. It means it cannot come near to us because we are in the care of our Shepherd.
6.) THE SHEPHERD WILL ASSURE US OF OUR ETERNAL NEEDS
“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalms 23:6 NIV)
This means the Shepherd will assure us of our eternal needs. In whatever angle of life will perceive, there will always be the goodness and love of the Lord for us. If we will take a look at the things happening right now, we should realize that we are still here, and we are still alive. We can still have relationships, we can still love, crack a joke and laugh, and it's because we can still see that in everything, there is goodness and love. As children of God, let's strive to see His goodness and love in everything. This shall be our stamina and endurance in every situation we are going through. Let's not forget that in every circumstance, there is always goodness and love. Why? Because Psalm says, “It will follow me all days of my life.” It means that the goodness and love of God will follow us because God doesn’t want us to give up in this life. He would always want us to continue living for Him.
Here is something that I want us to ponder on:
“The Lord is more than enough for us.”
In whatever situation you are in right now, the question is “Do you need a Shepherd?” If you do, if you need guidance, if you need reflection, if you need emotional healing, you need Physical healing, if you need assurance after death, you need a Savior, then come to the Shepherd. He is waiting for you now. He's always been. Maybe you are lost, or you feel that you are dirty. Maybe you feel that you are defenseless. You can come to the Lord right now and make Him your Shepherd.
“He cannot be a Shepherd of your life unless He is the Lord of your life.”
We don’t know who is your Shepherd is right now. Who is your great Shepherd? Who is looking after your life right now? Who is in charge of your life right now? Who is giving you the assurance, saying, "Whatever may happen, I am looking after you, I am there for you”?
If He is not your Shepherd, this is your time to make Him the Good Shepherd of your life. Again, He is more than enough for our lives.
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