Several years ago, I had the opportunity to do a pastoral sabbatical in Ireland. I was not only amazed at how green the landscape was, but I loved how many random flocks of sheep I ran into. It seemed every few miles, I would stop the car to allow sheep to cross the road. As a pastor, I was delighted with my surroundings.
David gave the world a tremendous gift when he wrote Psalm 23. After suffering blindness in 2018, verse 2 has become particularly special to me. David wrote, “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” Before losing eyesight, I had never seen the word makes in this verse.
As I sought the Lord in what He was allowing through this blindness, the Holy Spirit kept saying to my heart, “I am making you lie down in green pastures.” Today there is a contentment, peace, and a satisfaction that I would have never known had the Lord not made me to lie down. What about you? Are you too busy to rest in God’s green pastures? Are you running about with all the busyness of life and not enjoying all that God has for you? I would have never discovered how lush and green God’s pastures of contentment were and neither would my soul have ever felt restored unless the Lord made me to lie down. If you are too busy, slow down. Rest under the watchful eye of the Shepherd.