The Lord is my Shepherd, or why I should read my Bible more.

The last newsletter that Adrian sent triggered some thoughts. His article can be found here: Immersed in the Father's Love

Some years ago the church that I was attending suffered from the pastor’s lack of spiritual discernment. I was really troubled by the issue and it was becoming clearly evident that things were not going well and perspectives were of worse to come. The previous pastor had been fired from his position and a short time later we were again without a pastor. This state of affairs lasted for almost half a year. I started to become discouraged. It appeared to me that I was standing alone in the world. Things looked dark and I felt that everything was falling apart. The thoughts were depressing and I felt really discouraged. I longed for having a counselor. I really longed for having a pastor with the spirit of Christ. I longed for someone whom I can follow. I longed for someone who could be my guide and to whom I could talk candidly. I decided to pray right away on the issue. As soon as I started my prayer asking for a pastor, I was stopped right on the spot. I couldn’t continue. The following verse came to my mind:

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

Clarification: ‘shepherd’ and ‘pastor’ are one and the same word in my mother tongue.

I felt immediately relieved and surprised. My heart melted. I tried to insist on my prayer but I couldn’t. The Word of God was stronger. The Lord himself wants to be my Shepherd! The Lord himself wants to be my personal guide, counselor, pastor.

In the following days several times I felt the same and I fell on my knees praying for a pastor, but I couldn’t finish. “The Lord is my shepherd” came to my mind always and I was not able to continue.

We might feel sometimes like Elijah that we are alone in the world. I might feel the lack of guidance. I might sense that everything is falling apart, that there is no hope. But God himself comes in and says, “I want to be your Shepherd”.

Please God, help me to be “a sheep of thy pasture”.

By the way, the next pastor that came to my church was a huge blessing.