Becoming all God designed us to be

Quote from A. W. Tozer - What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

I have been attending a class from Hillsong Ministry School at my church. Below is a journal entry I created after our first week back from Christmas break.

This week we are back from Christmas break and I am excited to be back, meet my friends and fellow classmates and the leadership team. Pastor Judith led the teaching which was on being true to our new spirit. As usual the teaching was good explaining how Jesus was authentic and spoke with boldness and authority and how we, by deepening our relationship with Him, can do the same. All was good and then in the middle of the instruction Pastor Judith helped me to see something in Ps 23.

Psalm 23  (KJV) My Thoughts
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

 

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

 

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

 

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

 

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Verses 1, 2, and 6 are all good. Everything is going my way. The Lord is shepherding me, He is providing for me and goodness and mercy are following me all the days of my life, forever. Nothing to worry about here, life is good.  

 

It is in verses 3 through 5 that other things are happening as well. First, the Lord is working on me. He is restoring my soul which implies it was in need of repair. He leads me in the paths of righteousness which implies there are other paths that I could stumble down.

 

In fact, I do travel through unpleasant places in verse 4. And while on this journey, I am in need of comforting and God is there. He is with me, taking care of me.

 

In verse 5, the Lord prepares a table for me while my enemies are gathered around me. I like the table part but enemies? I have enemies and they are near, gathered around me however the Lord is near. He anoints my head with oil and my cup is overflowing. All of this the Lord is doing and He is doing it for His name’s sake.

As I think about this, I am reminded of a question that comes to mind from time to time. It is… If it is the will of God then shouldn’t it be easy. Doors should open and all things should fall neatly into place with little effort from me.  I guess there are times when following God’s will feels easy however David seems to be telling us that more often there are times when following God’s will is challenging and stressful. I liken it to a personal trainer who pushes you during a workout, stretching you, walking you through exercises which strain your muscles and force your body to develop greater strength, flexibility and endurance. The trainer, I am sure has your best interest at heart however there is something else on the line here. The trainer’s reputation for getting results! The trainer is vested in getting your best out of you. God is vested in us! As His children through Christ Jesus, God allows us to mission with Him and through the work develops us to be the people that He created us to be truly becoming all that we can be, our true selves.

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