Maranatha Blog - The Freedom Feast

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

I love this verse.  It speaks further to our call to “remain”.  When I’d rather run, avoid, hide or change things relating my current circumstance….He calls me to abide.  To continue.  To endure.

Everything I have heard since my childhood has pointed me the opposite direction. This goes contrary to what feels right in my heart. If things were hard it meant you were in the wrong place and it was up to me to fix this, to change it, to do whatever I could to make things more comfortable in my life.

I so often look towards a quick fix to right the difficulty encountered in life.

But as each year rolls by, and battles come and go, I am learning one thing.  And I am learning it often.  I am called to remain in Him.  To put my stake in the ground and cast my eyes to The One who created heaven and earth.  He is the only hope of the nations and He alone is the rescuer I can trust.

To love through the ache.  To hope though surrounded by pain. To wait and to see what the Creator of my life and my destiny will create with the ashes I find around me.

I love the verse in Psalm 23 that says “You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.”  because it paints a mysterious picture.  One that leads in another direction to the way I would normally  walk. 

How can I possibly celebrate though my table is surrounded by those who have hurt me, or wished me evil in this world?  Is that even possible?  To have real joy and be honest in my emotions even though my “table” is surrounded by those I would define as “unsafe”?