No FEAR

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
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 goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Yesterday I went to a healing service at a retreat center for a time of prayer and healing. This is a great place for reflection and fellowship and for sitting before God and to put everything at his feet away from the chaos of life. The message for the day was fear and what fear can do to me, even as a believer.


God has taken everything away, stripped me of all the things I used to earn people's admiration. I knew what he was up to. He put me in a place where my heart's deepest wounds and arrows-and came out. As I was weeping I saw all the pictures of what I wanted to be, not what God wanted me to be.


What came from my heart was surprising- incredible



FEAR.


From the place of my woundedness I created a false self. I found a few gifts that suited me and lived off them for a long time! I used them to invent a new self that everyone admired and nobody knew. It is like frosted glass. It has a great view from the inside-out but not from the outside-in.


So God took it all away. This often happens at the start of our initiation journey but continues as God continues to refine my Christian walk. He thwarts MY plan for salvation.

He starts a new plan for a journey not of my own doing and continually brings me back for a sharper focus.

"Until you have given yourself to him, you cannot be your real self"

CS Lewis

I will fear no evil, for you are with me as I dwell in the house of the Lord on the Adventure in Middle Grove.