A Small Adjustment Can Make All the Difference.

Over the past couple of days I've mentioned the fact that we all have our ups and downs that we have to deal with. The word, we, is our biggest problem. We think we have to deal with our problems and in a sense we are supposed to. In a sense. What am I talking about?

You remember Psalms 23? You've probably either read it a bazillion times or you are at least familiar with it. With good reason. It teaches us some amazing things, but the other day I was reminded of one thing that, if ignored, negates everything else in the Psalm. As a matter of fact, it is so important to understand that our walk with the Lord is virtually meaningless if we don't grasp the first line of this Psalm. What is it?

The Lord is my Shepard. That's it. As a matter of fact it is only a part of the first sentence but it is so significant it stands alone. The sentence doesn't say, "The Lord is the Shepard". It says, "The Lord is my Shepard." You see, all the things God promises in the rest of that psalm are in store for the people who can say, The Lord is my Shepard.

But in order for Him to be our Shepard, we have to be willing to follow Him.

What does that entail? Is it really that easy? It may sound easy, but letting anyone other than yourself guide your decision making and direct your steps definitely goes against human nature. But God is not "anyone". He is our creator as well as Father. He is perfect. Time does not affect Him. He can look at His children right now and see them in the future. It doesn't do any good to try to hide anything from Him because He already knows everything about us. Our past hurts and pains as well as our present ones are known to Him. He has compassion on us because He truly understands us...better than we have ever understood ourselves.

We have limited God to the position of judge. But He wants a relationship with us. That's why He is called our Father. That's why we have been adopted into His family. And that is why David, in Psalms 23, begins it with ... The Lord is my Shepard.

A small adjustment can make all the difference.