| The Lord is my shepherd … |
| —from Psalm 23:1 |
Nothing delights us more than to have someone care for us in a loving and compassionate way. Please let me share this illustration.
When I was a small boy, probably six years old, I became very ill with what eventually became obvious was a severe stomach flu. At the height of my most intense distress, my mom happened to be uncharacteristically away from home attending a women’s retreat. I was home alone with my dad.
I remember laying on the davenport in the living room all bundled up in a comforter. My stomach hurt badly. I was shaking with a fever. I was very sick. And, I was very scared.
My dad came into the room and sat down next to me. I looked up at him and, with tears flowing down my cheeks, I asked:
“Daddy, am I going to die?”Now my dad was never an outwardly affectionate man. He was a wonderful father, a devout Christian man, a hard-working provider for my mom and me. But, he was not given to many outward signs of affection. In this instance, however, my dad lovingly took my hand in his and, in his most soothing voice, told me that God loved me and God would care for me. He reminded me that, as my dad, he would be right there with me.
In that moment, I remember feeling a strangely warm sensation of comfort wash over me. God loved me. My dad loved me. I was loved. I was protected. I was cared for in a wonderful way. I can still, all these many years later, remember that feeling of tender love that enfolded me and comforted me. That’s what shepherding is all about.
When King David penned these familiar words from Psalm 23:1, he knew first-hand what it meant to be a shepherd:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
As we begin a new day, we must remember that, this day and every day, God is our shepherd. His divine love invades every aspect of our lives. He holds us lovingly, and with amazing compassion, in the hollow of His mighty hand. We are shepherded by the greatest of all shepherds.
