Ask the Shepherd to Lead You | Psalm 23
How do you deal with stress? April and I were in Miami at a meeting for church leaders. One of the speakers is a man that I deeply respect and admire, he is the CEO of Compassion International, Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado. Compassion is a ministry that “releases kids from poverty in Jesus’ name,” and is a ministry that my family has been supporting for years. Jimmy made this statement that has stuck with me, “If you don’t learn to metabolize stress well, you will be vulnerable for an emotional escape.” He went on to talk about former President Bill Clinton who had multiple affairs that were made public before, during and after his presidency. Being interviewed by CNN, Clinton said, “Nobody thinks I am taking a risk. That is not why people do stupid things…Nobody sits down and thinks I will take a really irresponsible risk, it is bad for my family, bad for my country, bad for the people who work with me. That is not what happens. It is you feel like you are staggering around, you have been in a 15-round prize fight that was extended to 30 rounds and here is something that will take your mind off of it for a while.” That is what happens. When we don’t metabolize or process stress in godly ways, we will be tempted to choose ungodly ways to survive. How many people have succumbed to some of the dumbest decisions because they just wanted to get away from their lives? As it has been said, “The grass is only greener on the other side because there is a broken septic tank underneath.” Our minds trick us into justifying all kinds of diabolical attitudes and behaviors because we believe in our hearts that we deserve it, and they will help us. Left to our own devices, the pressures and anxieties of life will lead us down the road to hell with much regret and damage to our lives and others.
Psalm 23 is the beloved psalm of David reflecting on his time as a shepherd. David uses the metaphor of a shepherd and sheep to describe God in his life. The Psalms are praise songs to help us understand more about who God is and who we are considering who God is. From this perspective, we can keep CALM in the midst of with the stress and anxieties of life. The first step is to consider who your shepherd is, the next step is to ask your shepherd to lead you. We will only ask the LORD to lead us when we see that His leadership is better than the lies that we believe about ourselves.