The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even 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.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

-Psalm 23

As I sat down this afternoon, I didn’t really have a plan for what to read. I began with Matthew 18, the forgiving King and the unforgiving servant. I then went to Daniel 6, Daniel getting thrown into the den and being rescued by his God. And then somehow I ended up in the Psalms. As I read through Psalm 23, I realized it was everything that I have been wanting. I wanted to know that my God is with me, that He has good things for me, and that he loves me and protects me. He is all that I shall desire, as I do that, everything else is cherry on top of the cake.

And as much as that stuck out to me, it was the first line of the Psalm that really stuck out to me. The Lord is my Shepherd. He’s mine. I have learned so much recently about the relationship that a Shepherd has with their sheep. They call them by name. They guide them to green pastures so that they can eat and be filled. At night, when the sheep are in their dwelling place, the Shepherd sleeps at the door so to protect them from any possible intruders. My Shepherd calls me by name. He knows me. He knows what I desire, what makes me me, more than I do. He puts himself between me and harms way so that I am kept safe. I’m sure there are many times throughout the day where I had no idea that He stepped in and protected me from some worldly danger.

I, at the moment, feel like the dumb sheep. I’ve been led by my Shepherd for awhile now that I forget what it is like to need to look up to find him.. I feel like I can roam amongst the other sheep and attempt to find protection among them. I also need to look up and make sure that I am following my Shepherd and not the rest of the flock. I need my Shepherd. He knows the path that I must take to get the food I need and the safety that I can only find in Him.

Jesus,

Thank you for being my Good Shepherd. Help me to keep my eyes focused on You and where You have me to go. Help me to not rush ahead of you or to one side or another thinking that it may find what I want instead of what You have for me. As I come to you Lord, I pray that you would restore my soul. Renew me Jesus, so that I can serve You in a way that You desire. I thank you for the moments of quiet that You give me. For it is in You that I truly discover who I am and what this life is meant to live for. Help me to seek You more, to seek You at a deeper level and desire to know You better. Fill me Jesus so that I can fulfill the mission that you have called me to do.

Even though I feel as though I am not moving forward with missions, I know that You are working and I rest in that. I must acknowledge my horrible attitude in desiring an answer. You are my Good Shepherd and sometimes, it takes a while before you are able to get your sheep to another green pasture. We are walking Jesus, I beside You, knowing that what is up ahead, in Your timing, is exactly what I need. Help me to rest in that.

I love You Lord Jesus. It’s in Your name I pray these things,

Amen

The cry...my cry

Lord I need you desperately
Lord please take all of me
cause I am crying out can you hear my voice?
I want to stand before
the one that I adore
and I'm crying out Praise your Holy Name
Hallelujah x3 Your holy, so Holy Name

Lord, I need you desperately
Lord please take all of me
cause I am crying out can you hear my voice?
I want to stand before
The one that I adore
and I'm crying out Praise your Holy Name.
Hallelujah x3 Your holy, so Holy Name.

I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.

Lord, I need you desperately.
Lord, please take all of me
cause I am crying out can you hear my voice?
I want to stand before, the one that I adore
and I'm crying out praise your holy name.

I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.
I'm crying out.

Without You

Without You- Shane & Shane

I can walk through the storm. I can walk by faith when my sight is gone

Just as long as you are here with me And I can gain everything

But what do I have if I don't have the King. Oh I need to know you're here with me

(Chorus) Here I am calling out Father Can you hear me, can you hear me

I don't want to go without you Here I am can You talk a little louder

So I can hear You, I want to hear You I don't want to move without You

Even though I believe You've taken up a home inside me

And you'll never leave I still need to know You're here with me

(Chorus)

If Your presence goes I don't want to stay If Your presence stays I don't want to goIf Your presence goes I don't want to stay If Your presence stays I don't want to go

I need You

(Chorus) x2

I could not write out my prayer any better than the lyrics to the song above. In many ways I feel as if I am walking blindly and all God is asking me to do is keep hold of His hand and walk by faith. Throughout my quiet time today, I feel like I kept saying over and over to God, “Here I am and I’m ready to listen. Can you hear me? I don’t hear you God, can you talk a little louder so I can hear because I want to hear You…now” And through the words to the lyrics I got a whisper in return, “Danielle, I am God who desires the best for you, and I’m asking you to wait on Me and My timing.” I felt as if I kept telling God: hello, I’m ready to listen, (even though these last few weeks have been quite crazy and I’ve acknowledged you at all the “right times”), I’ve carved out these couple hours in my crazy life and I’m asking that you meet me now. God isn’t asking for a couple hours when I feel ready. I need to make myself uncomfortable, I need to step outside my comfort zone, and meet Him daily.

So, basically, other than the quiet whisper, I didn’t really hear much. I read Deut. 11-13 where Moses is talking to the people before they are to enter into the promise land that, “warning!” false gods are going to appear before you, do not worship them, only Love the LORD your God. I also read through the book of James. A couple versus stuck out to me:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” –James 1:27

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” And it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” –James 4:13-17

As I begin to seek God out and continue to desire His will, I feel as though I am to wait patiently. I am to be still, and solely rely on the fact that He is God and I am not. I do not decide what tomorrow is going to look like and therefore I cannot decide what going to the mission’s field looks like either. I need to rest in today, in the amazing, overflowing blessings that He is pouring upon me where I am. I must continue to acknowledge that I am desperate for His guidance and will and that without Him each moment, I may drift away.

I love visuals. It something that I can glance at and acknowledge a moment in time where that object was used by God to speak to me or is something that I can remember something that I need to do. This timer represents time running out. The flow is continuous and the amount of sand inside represents how much time is to be observed. As I think about the mission’s field, I needed something to remind me to wait, to be still in the quiet, as if I’m anxiously awaiting the timer to run out, and allow God to work His will in my life. A timer, something in my life that means so much because I am so time oriented. Before I do anything, whether I have 5 minutes or 45 minutes, I always take a moment to gather my thoughts and plan out that length of time. My morning routine is the best example. I sit up in bed and go through the to-do list before I have to get out the door: contacts in, shower/do my hair, get dressed, deodorant, makeup, make coffee, get my breakfast together, have a plan for lunch, make my bed, make sure my house is in order, put on shoes, brush my teeth, put up window shades, turn off the heater, and walk out the door by 7am. Each step is thought out, I know what needs to be done and I can go through the process without really having to stop and think, what next? So as I think about time and how badly I love to plan it out, I was reminded by this timer that I can’t do that for everything. I can do my best to plan out moments, but God’s plans cannot be planned out. I must walk by faith, even if it’s blindly.