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Psalm 23:1 NLT

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.'

It is challenging to live confident in God alone. I struggle to quieten those many internal voices with their continuous commentary upon my life. I sometimes wake early with worries filling my mind, worries I can do little with. I’m robbed of my sense of peace and contentment.

Here the psalmist sets it out clearly. I belong to God and therefore I have the power to live content. I, of course, need to choose to do so. Looking back over life, I see that many of my decisions, taken in good faith, were based upon my own finite reason. One job I returned to was primarily to meet a cash flow issue. The outcome of that job was not good for me or the organisation. I’d yielded to my fears ahead of trusting in God. I have to learn to follow my Shepherd if I’m to find the good pasture.

Often the conflict is the difference between my sense of my need and God’s. I have a highly inflated view of what I require to live the good life. God holds the blueprint. There is something of a battle between my felt needs and God’s invitation that I trust in him alone. In honesty, I do stress over this. I am not sure I will ever be able to trust totally in God’s complete provision for my welfare. Yet, whenever I’ve taken things into my own hands, it’s tended to end badly.

God wants us to grow content in him alone, for in Christ we are complete (Acts 17:28). In belonging to God, we will be led to pasture; when lost, we will be found; when wounded, cared for. We are not immune to the bad things in life. Yet, we do have a faithful Shepherd to lead us each and every step.

QUESTION: What things do you need to trust to God?

PRAYER: Jesus, my Good Shepherd, thank you that you have been, you are and you will be good to me, for your name’s sake.