Psalm 23 – Part 2

Close to where I live. Take 1st July 2024 by myself

  He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.

Psalm 23:2-3a

So the sky was grey and it was too cold for the first day of July and it wasn’t where I intended to walk. Do you ever get it when you are driving along and you take a turn because you go there often but really you meant to go somewhere else? This is what happen in 1st July for me. I turned down a regular route and then remembered I’d intended to take the dog somewhere different. Well we were here now so I thought we’d walk anyway. This helped with the pondering about being lead by God.

It was very much God led me to this spot, a spot I do love, but still I was led. And you know what it did refresh my soul. I took photos. I prayed for some stuff going on that hurts a bit. And I let God refresh my soul.

Note in all these it is God who lies me down, God who leads me, God who refreshes me. It isn’t that I go where God leads and am refreshed, lie down, go beside, but all the while I am being taken.

But I think to gain the refreshment we do need to let God do it and we need to go willingly. I think it I’d done this walk begrudgingly then I would not have received the refreshment. If I’d done this walk thinking that it was a place where I could place all my burdens and issues on to God I still don’t think I would have been refreshed.

There is a lot of talk about mindfulness now, about being present where you are, but I think that I had to be present, be mindful, during this time of being led by still waters and green pastures to fully receive my refreshment.

Thankfully I was that day.