Safe with the Shepherd

Unrest.
We've all felt it.
You're probably feeling it this very moment.
Unsettled. Worried. Nervous. Anxious.

You want security. Peace. Comfort.

You've searched in all the wrong places and found one constant: it never satisfies.

Let me share with you what does. (And let me open with words from author Max Lucado - he tends to articulate best what is tugging on our hearts):

Come with me to the most populated prison in the world. The facility has more inmates than bunks. More prisoners than plates. More residents than resources. Come with me to the world's most oppressive prison. Just ask the inmates; they will tell you. They are overworked and underfed. Their walls are bare and bunks are hard. No prison is so populated, no prison so oppressive, and, what's more, no prison is so permanent. Most inmates never leave. They never escape. They never get released. They serve a life sentence in this overcrowded, underprovisioned facility.

The name of the prison? You'll see it over the entrance. Rainbowed over the gate are four cast-iron letters that spell out its name:

W-A-N-T.

The prison of want. You've seen her prisoners. They are "in want." The want something. They want something bigger. Nicer. Faster. Thinner. They want. They don't want much, mind you. They want just one thing. One new job. One new car. One new house. One new spouse. They don't want much. They want just one. And when they have "one," they will be happy. And they are right- they will be happy. When they have "one," they will leave the prison. But then it happens. The new-car small passes. The new job gets old. The neighbors buy a larger television set. The new spouse has bad habits. The sizzle fizzles, and before you know it, another ex-con breaks parole and returns to jail.

Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. You are if joy is one delivery away, one transfer away, one award away, or one makeover away. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it - you are in prison, the prison of want.

That's the bad news. The good news is, you have a visitor. And your visitor has a message that can get you paroled. Make your way to the receiving room. Take your seat in the chair, and look across the table at the psalmist David. He motions for you to lean forward.

"I have a secret to tell you," he whispers, "the secret of satisfaction. 'The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want"(Psalm 23:1).

David has found the pasture where discontent goes to die. It's as if he is saying, "What I have in God is greater than what I don't have in life." You think you and I could learn to say the same?

So, are you in prison? Are you ready to get out?

Are you ready to be rid of discontent?

It all begins in Psalm 23. As Lucado pointed at, it's as simple as this:

The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

So let me pose this question: is He your shepherd?

Before we can discuss the green pastures you lie in, the quiet waters He leads you by, or the fact that your cup can overflow, we must first establish whether or not He is your Shepherd.

Because if the LORD is your Shepherd, you shall not be in want.

If He is our Shepherd, we know His voice.
If He is our Shepherd, we have peace.
If He is our Shepherd, we have security.
If He is our Shepherd, we don't have to look elsewhere for anything.
If He is our Shepherd, we are not in want.
We are safe with the Shepherd.

Is someone posing as a shepherd in your life? If you are feeling unrest, I can bargain you are. If you're hoping for the next best thing in life to finally fill that need, I can see the signs. What have you let become your shepherd? What voice are you listening to most? What voice do you know better than any other? Is His voice the one you hear, listen to, and are comforted by?

Is He your shepherd?

If not, what is?

It's time to stop listening to the other voices more often. It's time to stop immersing yourself in the lies of our culture, your jobs, and the people around you. It's time for you to realize you will never be filled by them. Nothing on this earth can satisfy you. Nothing. It's time for you to realize you are safe. Safe with the Shepherd.

But realizing it is only the first step. Action must be taken. Change must take place.

So, how does He become your Shepherd?

He becomes your shepherd once you know Him better than all the posers and empty promises you've let lead you. He becomes your shepherd once you listen to His voice more than the shouting lies you've been convinced by your entire life. He becomes your shepherd when you study His character. When you know His tendencies. When you know His story. And he becomes your shepherd when you sit at His feet.

So go ahead.
Lie down.
Rest.
Be carefree.
Be safe.

Just like a sheep at the feet of its shepherd.