Green Pastures

Psalm 23:2 “He makes me to lie down in green pastures;”

Have you ever heard the saying, “I’m heading for greener pastures”? The phrase is one that sounds promising but usually ends in trouble. The hope that life is somehow better with only a change of environment or circumstances is one many have discovered to be a fool’s quest.

Why do people think the grass is greener on the other side?

Could it be the trouble we are experiencing at a given moment is our own doing?

Trouble follows the fool.

Ecclesiastes 10:2 “A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.”

The path of trouble is often a path of our own choosing. We may know the way we should go, but it just doesn’t seem as fun as the way we desire. The enticement of sin can at times be too difficult to overcome. For the one who finds themself in a predicament that seems all too familiar, it isn’t until trouble comes that sin finally becomes more apparent.

If trouble follows the fool, what can the wise expect?

Proverbs 15:24 “The way of life winds upward for the wise, That he may turn away from Hell below.”

The idea that one would choose foolishness over wisdom is preposterous….isn’t it? You would think that most people would desire to be found as wise.

I once worked with a man who hated christians. The moment I first started at my new job he determined to get rid of me, simply because I was a believer. No amount of testimony, kindness, or godly example phased him, he considered me an enemy and treated me as such. That time in my life was one of the most difficult challenges I’ve ever endured. He thought he was wise in his own eyes and yet his lifestyle overcame him.

That man’s drinking got the best of him and he died of liver cancer years later.

Psalm 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.”

What does wisdom and foolishness have to do with green pastures?

The pathway of the wise leads to peace.

When we look into Psalm 23, we should see it with greater focus. This passage was one I memorized as a child and still draw from it today. When God makes me lie down in green pastures, He is the One doing the leading and my lack of understanding isn’t getting in the way.

Since the shepherd is always leading and protecting, we must ask ourselves why we don’t trust Him more? The pasture is meant for nourishment. The Lord wants us to grow and be strengthened but He has a specific place He wants to do that—in His pastures.

Psalm 62:5 “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.”

Whether we are in a dry and dusty land or in a green meadow, the Lord knows where He has led us and He has a purpose for each place He has brought us to in life. We are not always meant to walk in the valley nor are we always meant for feasting and pleasure, there are also times He just wants us to wait quietly.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

We can get so caught up in the journey that we forget who we are being led by each step of the way. The Lord may have you on a path of service in His Kingdom that has produced much spiritual fruit, this doesn’t mean we are to run ourselves into the ground doing His work. The Lord knows our limitations and there are times when He just says….Rest!

We have to remind ourselves that God is to be doing the leading. It’s so easy to try and run ahead, thinking we know the way.

The difference between the wise who is led by the Shepherd and the fool who is led by his own sense of wisdom is that the wise have a surety in God. The Lord has always been faithful and yet the fool is striving in his own limited sense of understanding.

Common sense can only take you as far as you can see.

The Shepherd sees the end from the beginning while we can barely see past the nose on our face.

Isaiah 46:10 “I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will.”

I work with a group of people that have studied the heart for a long time and yet still make mistakes in diagnosing whether symptoms are heart attacks or something else.

Do you think that just possibly, since our hearts are that complex, within the greater scope of our lives that we are just as complex? The spiritual aspect of our being cannot be visibly demonstrated, dissected, monitored on a machine, or illustrated in a diagram and yet we know it exists. Heart doctors can’t diagnose a spiritual heart but the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves.

We must look to the source of all Truth to understand the spiritual aspects of our lives…the Bible reveals that Truth.

Psalm 42:1 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.”

When we allow the Lord to nourish and guide us in our lives, we find that He not only supplies us with our needs but His love abounds for us as we delight in Him.

Each move that the Lord makes has a purpose. Whether it seems life is a long journey through the desert, or a walk in lush meadow, the process He has us on is one we can have faith that what He is doing is Good.

Remember…..you are His. He broods over you like a hen over her chicks. You are so important to Him. Know that your value is not in what you do, but in who you are. You were made by Him and for Him. When you keep that perspective, you will see life as it should be viewed, with His purpose in mind.