Where Our Comfort Is.
“Yea, 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.”
Psalms 23:4 NKJV
Beyond assuring us of the care and devotion of Jesus our Good Shepherd, Psalm 23 is a very rich description of what we need in every phase of our Christian journey from the highs to the lows and how God satisfies every single need that we will ever have.
It is rather interesting that for all the benefits the sheep is said to experience in the watch of the Good Shepherd, the only place where comfort is mentioned is in the valley of the shadow of death which depicts this world as we know it- corrupted by the fall of man and completely overtaken by the traps of sin, it is indeed a dark valley haunted by death which symbolizes separation from God and a grim state of hopelessness where we cannot partake of the life of God.
In order to comfortably navigate this life without being entrapped by sin unto death and darkness, there are two gifts that our Good Shepherd loving bestows unto us; His discipline and His guidance which are symbolized by the rod and the staff. As we pass through this life, the mere threat of the great darkness and death in this world brings sorrow, pain and fear, even for the boldest of us. This is why our Good Shepherd comforts us with His discipline and His guidance. These are two sides of a coin, two gifts that compulsorily go together. We cannot have one without the other so to reject one is to reject the other.
This is important to emphasize because too many Christians desire the guidance of God but are terrified of His discipline. The idea of being instructed by God into ease, comfort and a state where we make the right decisions all the time is very appealing to many of us. We often think it affords us a life free from mistakes and uncertainty where we feel secure and even powerful, so we earnestly desire the guidance of God.
However, the thought of God disciplining us makes us so aware of our fallibility in a way that we often cannot bear. We think the discipline of God is a painful thing that disqualifies us by reminding us how inadequate we are in ourselves, but Psalm 23 beautifully explains that it is as much an agent of comfort as the guidance of God is.
God’s discipline whips us into shape, removing from us everything that seeks to contaminate us and by doing this, it provides hope for us that we have a God who is committed to our improvement, as well as assurance of His love that patiently corrects into our purpose where we are as perfect as He is perfect.
God’s guidance preserves us in a world where the smallest misstep can fatally destroy us. It is the voice that directs us on where to go, how to do things and how to live. It gives us the comfort that we are watched and fully protected by the God who sustains everything with His great power.
These two gifts walk hand in hand for our own good, providing us with a tangible comfort in this world of great suffering and pain, and building us up in boldness and confidence that we are not victims of a broken world and we need not fear it because we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our good shepherd who firmly and lovingly leads us through the path He has overcome.
Prayer Point:
Dear God, I thank You for Jesus the Good Shepherd. I receive the grace to follow Him wherever He leads me, trusting His guidance and His discipline, in the mighty name of Jesus I have prayed, Amen.
Meditation Prompt:
Spend some time speaking to the Holy Spirit about the first thing that came to mind as you read this devotional. Don’t forget to journal!
Prayer Prompts:
6:00 am: Pray for Northern Nigeria. Pray that the gates of hell will not prevail over the church in the North. Pray for strength for our siblings there.
9:00 am: Pray for the grace to extend the kindness and the love of God to those around you, as God leads you.
12:00 pm: Pray for five churches that come to mind. Speak blessings over them as led by The Holy Spirit.
3:00 pm: Pray for your family, that God continues to shelter every member in His love and goodness.
6:00 pm: Pray for divine protection, that you and everyone you hold dear is safely cocooned in the hollow of God’s palm.
9:00 pm: Ask God what He wants you to pray about.