Shepherds and Naps

March 19

Read Psalm 23

Pray: Almighty God, allow me to feel as a sheep cared for by the good shepherd. Amen.

Hear:

Is it strange that I distinctly remember my greatest nap of all time? It was the summer and the lightest rain fell on my face while a breeze washed over me. I worked for a construction ministry and so my whole body was exhausted. It was without question, the most rested I have ever felt.

Where was I when I took this nap? In the back of a truck bed while some college-aged man drove the truck. I SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN RELAXING. There is a real good chance that a basic fender-bender would have sent me catapulting through the air that summer afternoon, and yet I was napping really hard.

You’ve heard the 23rd Psalm before, I would wager. Maybe at a funeral. We like this Psalm because it is a pastoral and idyllic picture of what it can feel like when we are in the care of the Good Shepherd. When we are in the perfect set up, we can rest and relax knowing that God has got us. I wonder today if we could instead choose to see each moment as a chance to be rested by still waters. Maybe we can see moments around our enemies as moments that God has provided a feast for us. Like silly little college-aged me, may we choose to find rest, especially when it doesn’t make sense.

Respond:

Where will we find rest today?

Meditation:

God is my Good Shepherd.