I
remember the secretary at our previous church.
Whenever someone came into the church office and had a negative attitude
– complaining, angry, shouting – she would walk around the office after they
left and wave her hands as if she was fanning the air. I asked her what she was doing the first time
I saw it and she explained that she was chasing away all the bad.
We take
that attitude in life. We want to be
able to chase off all the bad things in life.
We want to shoo away the negativity so that our lives will be perfect
and wonderful all the time.
Psalm
23 is probably the most familiar of all Bible passages (at least in the top
10). It is a wonderful expression of
comfort from God. What is our attitude
even when facing death? Why are we
secure? According to verse 5, what good
thing does God do for us? Who is there?
While
we can find assurance in knowing that God can bless us as much as He does, we
must also be aware that we are not completely spared all the troubles in
life. Although the 23rd Psalm
is a litany of comfort we must still see that troubles exist.
We find
comfort in knowing that God is with us.
His rod and staff are a security to us.
But we still must walk through that Valley of the Shadow of Death. We still must go through those things that
frighten us.
Although
the Lord prepares a table of abundant blessings for us and He anoints us with
oil, reminding us that we are special, still our enemies are there. The table spoken of in verse 5 is not one of
isolation. The enemies are present.
As we
go through the challenges of life we must remember that God is with us to give
us comfort and blessings. But we also
must remember that in spite of the Lord’s presence we may not be completely
spared of all the problems.
When we
face troubles, when we experience pain, when we encounter sorrows we must know
that we are not abandoned by the Lord.
We are embraced by God, protected, encouraged and upheld.
DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you find strength to confront challenges?
