Deep Breath, Right Direction

I have thought a lot about Psalm 23. We went over it in Bible study recently and it was mentioned again on Sunday morning at church. I looked it up in the message and I just love the way the first three verses are translated. It says, “God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction. “

What tenderness and care we are given from our good and great “Shepherd”. We are in need of nothing, because He satisfies us, in a way only He can, that we are to want no more. The part of the passage that gives me goose bumps is “True to your word, you let me CATCH MY BREATH and send me in the RIGHT DIRECTION.” What a great illustration of the love of Christ. We all have those days, where they are overwhelming and stressful, and the next person to approach us might just get the effect of the day we have. In those moments we think if we could just take a second and catch our breath that we would be able to continue despite the madness. Where do you run to catch your breath? Do you run to the first person who will listen? Do you scream and fuss out of anger? Do you slam your fist on your desk and moan? Do you think if only you could get a hold of the person who upset you could give them “what they deserve”? I know sometimes I do, especially with people who are upset over the phone and call me at work to complain about something I don’t even have control over, yet I am put on the front line? The fact is, God is True to HIS WORD. He lets us catch our breath. There isn’t even a running requirement. He’s just there to let us catch our breath. I’m guilty of all of the above, but know that it would just be easier to bask in the “air” God gives us. To say, “Okay God, you are IN CONTROL.”

Now what about that “right direction” part of the passage. There are days, when I know and feel that I am where God wants me to be, but there are those days, when I don’t feel like I am where I am supposed to be in my walk with Him. Some days my walk with Christ can feel like a treadmill. I don’t know about you, but if you walk or run on a treadmill, it’s not really something one really desires to do. I mean think about it, who really wants to get up early and run? Okay, maybe those crazy people who really enjoy exercising, but I will be honest when the alarm says it’s 5:45 and time to get up to go to the gym, it’s not all rainbows and skittles, yet I'm still part of the crazies because I do that every once in awhile! Like a treadmill my walk with Christ can feel very repetitive. Going at the same pace, not deviating from the path, trying to do what’s right, over and over and over and over and over again. Some days my walk with Christ can feel like every 5 minutes there is another hurdle to jump over. Trying to trust God with everything, giving Him control once again over those things, that I surrendered to Him before. Some days my walk with Christ can feel like shoveling snow. When you start out and you can finally see a path that you created, just to realize that some of the snow (not all of it) blew back to make the path a little unclear. And other days my walk with Christ can feel like a GPS, saying “turn left, drive 5 miles to destination on right”(YOU MADE IT). But it’s not about the “feeling” of where our walk with Him may or may not be, rather knowing the TRUTH of GOD’s WORD…that HE LET’S US CATCH OUR BREATH, and SENDS US IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION…whether we “feel” like it or not. So whatever your “treadmill-like, snow hurdle GPS”  walk might be in, remember where your breath and direction come from!