Psalm 23 has a very clear and comforting image of God leading us as a shepherd leads his flock.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. Which is to say, Since the Lord is my leader, I will not need anything else.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
This is beautiful imagery of God leading us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
I met someone recently who told me that sheep really are dumb animals. This person told me that there is even one breed of sheep that is so dumb that if it falls on its back, it physically and mentally does not have the ability to get up. It will die there.
I don’t know if that is true or not, but I have also heard the same thing all my life -- that sheep are dumb animals.
But one thing we probably all know is that sheep can be led.
I enjoy watching David Letterman on TV late at night sometimes, and he has had on more than one occasion a taxi cab pull up to the front of the Ed Sullivan Theater where Letterman’s show is taped. The door of the cab is opened and out come half a dozen sheep and two sheep dogs. These two dogs can lead these sheep out of a New York taxi cab, into the Ed Sullivan Theater, through the lobby (where a special red carpet has been laid in advance for their welcome), down the aisles, and onto the stage where David Letterman is waiting. Then the dogs lead the sheep back up the aisle, through the lobby, out the door and back into the cab, which then drives off.
Sheep are dumb, but people are dumber! Because a sheep will let itself be led by a dog, but people won’t be led even by God almighty.
The imagery in the psalm is comforting -- up to a point. Green grass. Quiet waters. Then you have this valley of the shadow of death!
God leads us in some strange places, and sometimes, we don’t want to go where God leads.
St. Stephen is remembered in the Book of Acts as the first martyr of the church. He said in his first and last sermon: "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51)
And we do this all the time.
God leads us to speak, and we stay silent.
God leads us to use the gifts he gave us. And we stay quietly at home.
God leads us to be his bold witnesses, and we timidly stay mute.
It is hard to let God lead us. And it is almost illogical to do the things God wants us to do.
Moses! There he is with 1000’s of people waiting for him to do something. The Egyptian Army comes rushing over the sand dunes on one side, and Red Sea is on the other.
Who in his right mind would ever think that walking into the sea is a "good" idea? Most people in their right mind would look at the enemy army approaching and think, "Did anybody bring the white flag? Anybody trained in diplomacy?"
But God doesn’t want people who are ONLY in their right minds. He wants people in their righteous mind, who are on the righteous path. And sometimes, following God on the righteous paths doesn’t seem like the right minded thing to do.
Israel facing Goliath! Who in his right mind would send in the kid with the slingshot? No. Anybody in their right mind would look for Arnold Swartzenegger armed with a bazooka!
But God doesn’t want people who from the world’s point of view are in their right mind. He wants people who are on the righteous path.
Think back on the times when you rejected God’s leadership. I look back on my life and I think the times I rejected God and I know I had outstanding reasons to reject God.
Outstanding reason number one...
It is easier to stay where you are, or even move backward, than to move forward with God.
A few years ago, I was serving a church in Brunswick, Georgia, that had a relationship with Presbyterian Churches in the Navajo Reservation of Utah and Arizona. One year we had a young person who signed up with a program of the Presbyterian Church to volunteer to spend an entire year working in Arizona with the Navajo Indians.
At the very last minute, she decided not to go.
I talked with her, and asked her why the change of heart.
It was not because of the expense, which it would be for her and her family.
It was not because of losing a year of college, which would happen.
It was not because of any sort of difficulty.
She decided not to go simply because it was easier to stay where she was, doing the same things she had always done.
But then, for other reasons, she decided it was too late to back out and she ended giving the year of her life to work with the Navajo.
Upon her return she couldn’t say enough about what a missed opportunity it would have been had she stayed in that comfort zone of hers.
As I look back on my life, it is the missed opportunities that I regret the most.
I don’t regret the mistakes I actually did do nearly as much as I regret just letting opportunities pass me by.
The things I could have done, but didn’t, because it was easier to stay where I was, comfortable in my familiar settings.
It has always amazed me that in the Exodus, God is leading the people to freedom. And time and again the people complain. It’s amazing. In Egypt, the people were slaves. In Egypt, Pharoah was killing the first born sons. God is leading to a land of milk and honey, and yet the people time and again will say, "Why didn’t we stay in Egypt?"
But God is a God who is on the move, and we’d rather stay were we are. Because we are people who THINK we are in our right minds – not our righteous paths. It’s nicer to stay where we are and stay comfortable, than to get on the move.
It’s easier to keep your old job than at age 40 to go back to college. It’s easier, but what is God leading you to do?
It’s easier to hear about someone needing help and to hope God leads someone ELSE to do something. It’s easier, but what is God leading YOU to do?
Are you in what the world around you would call your right mind? Or are you on the righteous path going where God leads?
Well, that is not the only reason why we resist God.
Outstanding Reason Number Two To Resist God -- it is so costly. So many sacrifices.
You stop and count the cost, and it is hard to follow God.
I remember when my wife and I were married, we moved into the Cameron Apartments. Nasty things. Tiny little kitchen and bathroom. The only time you could get the air conditioning to work was in the winter time. The heat wouldn’t work except in the summer time. Bugs all over the place. Hated that place. We lived there for 5 months, and then moved out into pure luxery. Nice big den. Nice big bedroom. Nice kitchen. Heat that worked in winter and airconditioning that worked in summer. Swimming pool outside, and inside, not a bug in sight.
Then, after 2 years of what my wife and I still refer to as our "wealthy years" God calls us to the ministry.
That means three years of seminary. Low salaries once you’re out. It meant delaying having children. But most of all, since the seminary was in the same town as where we had gone to college, it meant we had to move. And of course, there was only one vacant place in town. The Cameron Apartments where we had lived for 5 months, now we could look forward to 3 years there!
We had to ask ourselves if we were willing to pay the cost. Not in terms of money, but in terms of other sacrifices. The tuition for seminary was not outrageous, but the other costs were high.
We count the cost, and sometimes we want to say no to God.
Think about the cost that it took to get the Hebrews out of Egypt.
I read an interesting article recently that said that the Quartermaster General of the Army had figured out what it would have taken to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. He figured that it would have taken 1,500 tons of food every day to feed the Hebrews. To bring that food each day, two frieght trains, each a mile long, would have been required.
And since they were in the desert, they would have to have firewood to use in cooking food. This would take 4,000 tons of wood and a few more freight trains each a mile long, just for one day. And think -- they spent 40 years in transit!
Then there is water. For just drinking and washing dishes only would have taken 11, 000,000 gallons each day, and a freight train with tank cars.
Then you have to think of all sorts of other practical problems -- setting up camp each night, cloth for the tents, rope, tent pegs. Then there is clothing. First aid supplies. Food and provisions for the animals.
More trains!
But there were no frieght trains back then.
But God provides. And that is all that Moses needed to know. Don’t worry about the water, God has all the water in the world. Don’t worry about the food, God has all the food in the world.
But it’s hard not to count the cost if you are in what you think of as your right mind, but not on the righteous path.
During the Exodus, God gives people gift upon gift. Freedom. Water out of rock. Food from heaven. But the people still complain. "We should have stayed in Egypt. The cost and sacrifice is too great."
So God tells Moses in Numbers chapter 11: "Tell the people: ’Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month-- until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it-- because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" ’"
When God leads, God provides. And that is all we need to worry about. Anybody in his or her right mind would stop and think about the cost and sacrifice. But God doesn’t want you, in what the world thinks of as being in the right mind. He wants you on the righteous path.
God calls, but we are too comfortable to follow. Or God calls, and sacrifice is more than we want to pay.
Sometimes, we want to do what God calls us to do. Sometimes we are willing to leave our comfortable place in life and move on. Sometimes we are willing to make the sacrifices, but we feel overwhelmed.
Outstanding Reason Number Three To Resist God’s Leading – Fear of Failure!
Moses sees this bush on fire, but it is not consumed. He investigates and finds himself talking personally to God, and God talks back, and tells Moses --
"Moses, I want you to go back to Egypt. I know you’re wanted for murder there, but go back there. I want you to go to the Pharoah. King of Egypt. Most powerful person in the world. I want you to talk to him face to face. I want you to remind the Pharoah of the slaves he has working, building those pyramids free of charge. and tell him to let them go free."
Moses is in his right mind. Moses looks at God and says, "Good idea, why don’t you send my brother Aaron to do this."
Moses is not a good speaker. He is not a strong person. He is not the right man for the job.
But when God leads, God enables.
When God calls, God empowers.
Mother Teresa was on a street corner in Calcutta, and three bodies were laying on the street. She began working with one person, and as she worked a visitor asked, "Aren’t you upset that you can’t get to all the bodies?"
Mother Teresa replied, "No, God created us not to be successful, but to be faithful."
Anybody in their right mind would look at the poverty of Calcutta and say, "Overwhelming. Can’t be done!"
But Mother Teresa is not in her right mind. She’s on the righteous path.
Our God leads us – if we let Him.
He may lead us into the Valley of the Shadow of Death, or He may lead us into to quiet waters. Truthfully, during the whole span of our lives, we will find that he will lead us into both places – the valley of the shadow of death and the comforting quiet places of peace.
But we need not fear.
God is leading us.
You know, I think back about those episodes of David Letterman, with those sheep coming out of the taxi, walking around the Ed Sullivan Theater, even going up and down the elevator.
The sheep seemed to smart. They seemed to know where they were going.
But they didn’t.
The dogs were the smart ones.
The Bible is always referring to us as sheep.
As much as I would like to think otherwise, we are smart. Not compared to God.
But God knows where we need to go. What we need to do.
And if we follow God, and stay on the righteous path, then everything else in life will be so vastly better.
We will find that we will have all we really need in life.
We will find our souls restored and refreshed.
We will find comfort even when we are walking in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
For those in their right mind, as the world defines the right mind, there may be many reason not to follow God.
But for those in the righteous path, we know that following God like a sheep follow a shepherd is the only way worth living.
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Written by Maynard Pittendreigh
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