The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalms 23:1 NKJV

I’ve been thinking a lot about this verse lately. Over the years, I’ve listened to several sermons preached on this simple statement. It’s the truth, I’m not denying it. He is my shepherd, and because He is, I’ve found that He loves taking care of me.

This past year has been a difficult time for me. I’ve had to endure some very great losses, but also some great gains. I would say it was more learning to navigate through territory I’ve never seen. Testing the path for roadblocks and pitfalls while retraining my ears to hear the one voice that matters most–The Shepherd.

I’d like to share an illustration of this verse that you may think is silly, but it’s such a great example of how God is always listening, even when we don’t voice our thoughts.

My girls and I just got back from a cruise that Walt and I had preplanned for a small amount of him to be buried at sea. I flew my son-in-law down to do some work for me while we were away.

He took down the old fence that the hurricane had damaged, cleaned out a bunch of scrub brush, and trimmed a dead tree, cutting everything up into manageable pieces so I could get rid of a little at a time.  Nonetheless, it was a very large project and a bit overwhelming, to say the least.

Before they flew home, we had cut up some small branches, bagged them, and loaded them into the trash container for pickup. I remember looking at the large pile and being a bit overwhelmed. I took a deep breath and thought, I can do this. It may take a while, but it’s ok.

Tuesday was trash day again, so I pulled the container to the back, loaded it up, and hauled it out to the road, taking a smaller container out from the shed and filling that as well.

A little later, I received a text while at work saying that someone ran into our smaller trash container and destroyed it. When I arrived home, we found a note in the mailbox from a neighbor admitting what he did and giving me his address and phone number to call him so he could make it right.

He came over last night and brought a better container and asked if he could see the brush in the backyard. When I showed him, he explained that he had a pickup and trailer and would be happy to take all of it for me. Not just the brush, but the old fencing. It will be done this weekend.

I shall not want. It has happened so many times this past year that I’m blown away. He’s forever listening to each concern I have. Nothing escapes Him. He knows what I need before I even ask.

I encourage you not to react negatively to things that happen to you, but to trust God has a plan. Be thankful that all things work together for your good. God loves you much more than you could ever love Him. You can trust Him with every aspect of your life.

Sandy G