Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, 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…’
Psalm 23: 1-4 (NKJV)

The Lord is my Shepherd…is how David begins that beloved Psalm.

He knew that in his better moments.

Yet there were times when he didn’t feel that way.

Days when he felt all alone.

Running from enemies, hiding in caves, crying out to the Lord. Wondering why things were happening to him?

How much longer will this go on? Will you forget me forever, Lord? Why are you hiding your face from me?

And we have probably felt like and called out to God in much the same way David did. Hiding, crying out, wondering and asking why and how much longer we’ll be forgotten and alone.

Feeling at times like we are walking in those same valleys in the shadows of death and deep darkness.

Unable to see the next step before us to move out of whatever valley of darkness, difficulty and despair we were in, and out into the light.

And even if we could see the way to go, we have too often found ourselves unable to muster the strength, the will, the hope to move forward to begin the journey to overcoming whatever it was before us.

Or perhaps, uncertain of what the future may hold, we chose to remain stuck in the valley of darkness, a valley of worry, anxiety and depression, holding us back, tying us down and preventing us from moving ahead through the valley to our future on the other side.

But like David, we need to remember that no matter what we face or go through, we don’t have to go through any of it alone, as he shares in verse four, “I will fear no evil; for You are with me…”

David reminds us that, as a child of God, we are never alone.

Our Good Shepherd, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, is always right there with you and me, as He was with David.

To help us see the way, find the strength, will and hope to move ahead with Him knowing that He holds our future.

The Lord is my Shepherd…today, tomorrow and always.

Ahead with the Shepherd.

In His Name–Scott