Who Is Your Shepherd?

This last week has been so busy. It’s almost like an initiation into the holiday season. I mean, if you’re going to do it, go all in. Am I right?

Probably not. Haha. But sometimes things have to be done and, as a mom, I just do it. I try not to overwhelm myself with activities. Been there, done that. Definitely not as fun as it looks.

Last week, my family was crashing from the Halloween high. Not only had the sugar rush worn off, but daylight savings time ended and suddenly 6 pm felt like midnight!

Let me make a small admission to you. I am not a mom that hates the end of daylight savings time. I know, I know. Everyone is on Facebook complaining about it. Honestly, I find it easier to get everyone in and showered when it gets dark earlier. And they tend to get up easier in the morning, at least for the first week. I’ll take it!

I don’t know if you remember me whining a couple weeks ago because the kids had Red Ribbon Week followed by Halloween and I was dying from all the dress-up days. This week happens to be National Young Readers Week, you guys. They are dressing up for each day. Not in costumes, of course; in regular but very specific types of clothes. (See flyer below.) So me? Still dying.

Last week I was trying to prepare for a conference I would be attending Saturday. I was also preparing my home for my absence. Planning and prepping dinners, extra grocery shopping, and general cleaning of the house, which was totally thrown into overdrive when my husband told me that his mother would be arriving at our house on Saturday.

Imagine my face. No, not the “Seriously! My inlaws are coming?” face. I love my mother-in-law. She is funny and chill and we get along so well. No. It was the “I have so much to do and now I have to really kick it up a notch” face. Cue deep breaths and lots of running.

Finally, on Saturday, I attended the Propel Activate Women’s Conference in Houston with about 17 ladies from my church. That’s an estimation but it was at least that many. Ten of us stayed in a hotel close to the event the previous night. We went out for coffee and dessert and it was really just a super fun time of hanging out and growing our relationships.

The conference was amazing! Bethel Worship and Jenn Johnson killed it! I do not know how that girl can move around so much and still have enough oxygen to sing! But that’s just my asthma talking. Haha! Christine Caine, the founder of Propel Women, is so full of fire that you can feel it as soon as she comes out on stage. If you haven’t seen her in person you really should! It’s worth it!

Christine talked about Psalm 23 and how important that first verse is. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” It’s the secret to life that people search for and never find. It seems so ironic because it’s right there in print, this secret.

Christine shared this inverted verse Saturday. “The Lord is not my shepherd; I shall want.” Wow! What a powerful statement. What a bold declaration of rebellion. What a sad glimpse of reality. “If the Lord is not your shepherd,” she said, “you will want.”

Maybe it’s money. Maybe it’s stuff. Maybe it’s recognition or relationship. There are a lot of things that people try to substitute for God. And they all seem to work for a little while… until they don’t. Then you realize that they never really made you feel fulfilled in the first place. And you want, and you want. There is only one thing that can fill the void in our lives. One.

God created us.

In His image.

To be in relationship with Him.

Our spirit longs to be connected with our creator. It’s our primary purpose on this earth. Should we be surprised that nothing else seems to fill that wanting in our soul? Because we can never be satisfied apart from God, we remain in a state of wanting. And it’s all because we refuse to make Him our shepherd; to let Him be the one we chase after and who leads us to a place of peace. A place where we will not want.

Instead, we so often chase after the things we think will make us successful in the eyes of the world. Those things become our shepherd. And the motivation to outdo ourselves leaves us wanting still. My pastor has a saying that “money makes a good servant, but a horrible master.” That is true of all self-attainable things.

When we get caught up in chasing things, it’s hard to be a leader. We can’t efficiently lead others when we ourselves aren’t being led by the One who knows the way. Which way do we lead our children? Do we lead them to money? Or to God? Do we tell them that a person can be our rock, instead of the creator of all things? And when those things fail, and leave us wanting, what are we teaching? When we make the Lord our shepherd, we will not want. And He will give us peace.

So who is your shepherd? Are you feeling empty? Are you wanting? I know what you need. His name is Jesus and through Him comes the only way to be reconciled to our Heavenly Father. Our Lord. Our shepherd. Choose Him. He is everything.