Psalm 23:3 - Right Paths

He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
~Ps. 23:3

I'm usually pretty good with directions. In most cases, once I've been some where, I can usually find my way back. Except for one place. There is a housing plan not far from where we live that leaves me driving in circles almost every time I drive in to it. We know 2 families that are friends of ours who live in the plan. And just about every time I have had to drive over to one of their houses I get lost. That is unless Amy is with me. If Amy is in the car with me, I don't have a problem because she leads me. She knows how to get around in the plan and what roads we need to take to get where we need to go.

It's a great gift, really, knowing where you are going and how you are going to get there. Maps, GPS, intuition, directions, they all help us get to where we're going. They give us a certain level of security. Confidence in knowing that we can get to the destination point. But without them? Without the maps, GPS, directions, intuition, well, the trip is a little more difficult.

But what if you were on a journey and you didn't know where you were going? No directions. No GPS. No maps leading the way. How would you ever know you were heading in the right direction? It would be torture.

Unless you had someone to lead you...

David writes in Psalm 23, verse 3, 'He leads me in paths of righteousness...' Do you know what would happen if there was no shepherd? The sheep would wander off. Slowly but surely, one or two at a time, not paying attention to where they were going, the sheep would roam, getting themselves into all sorts of trouble. Without the shepherd, the sheep would find themselves lost and alone.

But instead, the shepherd comes and he leads them. From places of food and water to safety when bedding down; away from the dangers and treachery of the wilderness, the shepherd leads his sheep. And because the shepherd loves his sheep, he leads them to way it's safe for them. He takes them along paths that he knows are good for them.

David knows this because this is what David did. As a shepherd he led his sheep. And he knows that God, as his shepherd will do the same thing. David trusted God. That trust led David to rely on God leading in his life. Where God led, David followed. It wasn't always easy or struggle free, nonetheless, David went knowing that God was leading him.

Do you trust God to lead you? Are you able to surrender your own will in order to go to the places that God is leading? You see, if we say that God is our shepherd, we have to let go of the control in our lives. We have to trust that God is leading us in those right paths. Even when the way gets a little rocky, we must trust that God is leading us.

Today, take a few minutes to look at the path that you are on. Are you wandering around the countryside, lost, alone, and finding yourself in place you'd rather not be? If so, it might be time to let go of some of the control in your life and begin trusting the Shepherd to lead you.

- jay

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