I'm currently reading a book by Harold Kushner called, "The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm." He breaks down each statement from, what is most likely, the most well-recognized passage in the entire Bible. I would venture to guess that almost everyone, at least in this country, has heard this Psalm. If you've ever attended the funeral of a loved one, you've probably heard this Psalm that begins, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." and continues with "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."
As any of you who read this blog know, I'm a person who is almost constantly plagued with doubt about my life. I posted a couple of weeks ago about the level of discontent in my life. One of the biggest reasons for this discontent is that I'm wondering whether or not I'm still valuable in my current occupation as a youth pastor. Today, I received an email from one of my college students telling me how much he appreciates me and the fact that I was responsible for changing his life (I would argue that God did the changing, but that's for another post).
In the twenty-third Psalm, the psalmist says, "he (God) restores my soul." I've been thinking about that line all day because it seems that in my times of greatest doubt concerning my ministry, someone always comes along with a kind word, or I stumble upon a certain passage of Scripture that lifts my spirit. It's as if I'm walking through the desert, wondering when I'm going to die of thirst, only to stumble upon a small stream flowing with cold water. It's not necessarily an over-abundance of water, but just enough to continue on the journey. It's a restorative drink, one that gives the energy needed to continue on in the heat and wilderness. In fact, as I look at the history of the Bible story, I see this kind of thing happen all the time to God's people. He provided a spring to the Israelites wandering in the desert, manna and quail for them to eat, a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, etc.
God won't necessarily speak to you directly (presumably with the voice of Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones), but he will bring people into your life to restore you when you need it the most.
2 comments:
Great, great commentary. I couldn't agree more. You are valuable at what you do. Keep it up.
I believe God brings people alongside us just when He knows we need it. An email. An arm around the shoulder. A kind word. A card. A eating out gift card. Even money in a card! :)
I will second what your pop says.
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