Day 22: For His Name's Sake

“For His name’s sake.” Psalm 23

It has not been quite two years since I exchanged the title of single parent, for the title of wife. Not longer after, I also traded in my professional identity as manager, trainer, and mentor for that of home organizer, decorator, and home educator.

Although the changes were welcomed answers to prayer, they also brought about some confusion as to my purpose in life and my value as a woman in Christ. After seven years of having my hours filled to overflowing with full-time work, full-time parenting, and a few college classes thrown in just to make sure my cup was never half full, it suddenly seemed as if my cup had sprung a leak, and my purpose and identity had gone through the crack.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.

For so long I had so desperately needed all that Jesus had for me, I seemed to want for much, and the want drove me to my Shepherd. Now, I needed so little in the way of physical concerns, but feeling a sense of loss, longed all the more the direction of my Shepherd.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

In the months after my marriage I developed not one, but two shoulder injuries, which were complicated by an increased frequency of migraine headaches. I cut off my long hair to avoid having to send my husband to blow dryer boot camp, signed up for excruciating physical therapy, and became amazed at how many things you can not do when you have injured shoulders. And so I rested.

He leads me beside quiet waters.

My husband is a great lover of fountains, and beyond the windows of my home, are two. We often sit together and enjoy their music as they bubble gently, soft enough that hummingbirds will take their showers under the calm waterfalls, and quiet enough that the sweet strains of water dancing, will calm my heart. I think I’ll stay a while.

He restores my soul.

Tucked in the beauty of the new life my Shepherd had brought me to, I began to take delight in the rest, and in the quiet; in the abundance of green, and the refreshment of the sweet water. As I did, my heart grew content, and I could hear His voice speaking to desires in me that I had long laid at the gate of “I shall not be in want.” And my soul began to awaken.

He guides me in paths of righteousness…

He had made me to lie down, so I would learn to rest in him. He had led me beside quiet waters, so that I would learn to drink of His refreshment. He is restoring my soul, so that I will know the joy of truly having His desires fulfilled in my life. And now He will be the Shepherd that He has always been, directing and guiding me in His paths of righteousness that I might fulfill the wonderful purposes this little lamb was designed for.

For His name’s sake.

Lord,

You have never left me on the journey, nor abandoned me when I strayed. How I thank you that you pulled me to yourself, and as a little lamb, rested me on your shoulders, caused me to lie down in the greenest of pastures, and refreshed me with the sweetest of waters. My soul is restored. May I always walk in the path you have planned for me. For your name’s sake.

Your Beloved