Living a Psalm 23 Reality

If you look for his heart, you’ll find it. 🤍

I almost didn’t attend a conference I had signed up for this weekend because every day this week I had something on my calendar—all week, I had been busy from the time I woke up until I went to bed. But, deep down, I knew I was supposed to go despite my feelings and full schedule. 

In hindsight, I’m so thankful I went.

The Lord met me in so many ways while I was there—I’m still processing it all—but I wanted to share a little journey the Lord took me on during a lunch break at the conference.

So, here we go 🏃🏻‍♀️:

For the lunch break, I found a restaurant nearby on my phone, so I put it in my GPS and proceeded to follow its instruction. I’m a little directionally challenged, so I don’t even try to look up streets, the location, etc. I just blindly, but trustfully, follow the directions my GPS is telling me to go.

I was driving on a main road when the GPS told me to turn at this odd looking intersection. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure it was a turning lane, but it was insistent I turn there (Thanks, Siri!). So, I turned and followed the directions even though it looked like my GPS was lost too.

There was this weird curve in the road quickly after I turned. The GPS was showing this blue squiggly line, but it looked more like a kid’s drawing than an actual road way. I was thinking, “what in the world is this.” I had to kind of pause to see if it was asking me to make another immediate turn down an even narrower road, or if I was to go a different direction.

Nope! It was pointing to this narrow road in some neighborhood.

I was thinking, “Okay, Siri, has really lost her mind at this point.” Then, as I turned onto the street, I looked up and saw this road sign that said, “Green Pastures.” 

The Lord the Shepherd of His People

“He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.”

Psalm 23:2 (NKJV)

I laughed, and then stopped to take a picture of the road sign because I knew the Lord was speaking. 

I then proceeded to the restaurant. Once I finally got there and got seated at a table, I couldn’t help but notice the table in front of me when some guys passing by stopped to ask a young girl and her mother if they would like a dessert. They were on their way to get dessert, and they would buy them a dessert too if they wanted it—it was a really kind, sweet gesture.

The young girl’s face lit up with excitement from the offer, and she asked her mother if she could get a dessert. The mother said she could, but she did not want a dessert herself. Then, the young girl almost tipped her chair over trying to get out of it with so much excitement. She was quickly on her way to the front counter to go get a dessert, and she was filled with so much joy about the kind offer. 

The young girl eventually returned to their table, and not only did she get a dessert, but she actually had two cookies. She was so excited to show her mother, and then she offered the extra cookie to her mother. The mother said she didn’t really want any dessert, and it was all hers. 

It was sweet how excited the girl was, but it was also precious to see how the young girl was quick to share what she had freely received. 

As I’ve been reflecting on this, the Lord reminded me of always living in this Psalm 23 reality.

Even when the journey seems long, when we think we’ve missed the turn or the road looks too narrow, he’s always leading us to green pastures. The only thing we have to do is follow his perfect leadership and guidance. We can trust him with the journey.

And just like the young girl siting at the table, may we allow him to host us at his table. She was just there eating lunch—no worries or cares in the world. Yet, while just sitting at the table, she was blessed with a double portion of a sweet treat. Not only did she receive a double portion, but she was also willing to give away what she received.

May we too be willing to give away what we receive at the Lord’s table.