My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-2 – The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. (KJV)

The new restaurant had a buffet line larger than my entire house. Did I want family food? Italian? Sushi? Chinese? Desserts — chocolate covered, cream filled, and extra-size? I wanted all of it. My knees actually weakened when I perused the chocolate line. That's when I recognized that my long-lived love of the stuff had turned into an addiction. As a recovered bulimic, I knew my eating capacity. 50,000-plus calories at a sitting was not unusual for me in my not-so-distant past.

Blessedly, the first verses of Psalm 23 began to run through my mind. I certainly was in a very green pasture. A gal like me could eat all she wanted and more, for only $9.99. (Beverage extra!) But if the Lord is my shepherd — and He is, I muttered to myself — then I shall not want! I could sit down (a little loose translation here!) in this place and be satisfied. So I prayed for strength, turned, and stumbled back to my chair with only one serving of woman-losing-weight food. And the waters of greed and "poor me" were stilled.

What is yelling at us today over the quiet, still voice of God? Is it our overloaded credit card? Does our smoking, eating, or gambling addiction whine to be fed? Whatever our feed-me-more problem, let us consider that the Lord is our shepherd and then rest in the peace of knowing that we shall not want.

Prayer: Oh shepherd God, help us to lie down in those green pastures, which so easily tempt us. Still the waters of our riotous minds, and fill us with Yourself. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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