He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:3-4
First of all, yes I am still alive although there have been moments I've wondered myself. And I now interrupt this blog hiatus to share a little from my Good Morning Girls group and how God works in my life everyday!
We've been studying Proverbs 31 and I've had mixed feelings about it.
Just to be honest there are mornings I've woken up with a terrible attitude dreading opening my Bible to see what area I'm totally slacking in now.
Then there have been those mornings I've realized what it's all about-not me but Him. I can't do it but He can. He didn't create me to be perfect but to trust in Him to work through me for in my weaknesses He shines even brighter. Which leads me to today...
I woke up this morning grabbed my Bible, GMG notebook and cup of coffee and headed to the porch. I was the first one to post on our GMG Facebook page and here's a shortened version of my post:
Good morning girls! Great scripture this morning!! I got so much out of the first 4 words "He restoreth my soul". I thought about my friend Brittni and how she does such a good job at restoring old furniture. She finds pieces that others no longer want and some even consider trash and cleans them up, adds a fresh coat of paint, new fixtures and then they are as good as new. Some may have even been used for a different purpose than intended (like a dresser for an entertainment stand) but it works and works well.
I'm thankful that when I feel "all used up", that I've given all I have to give, and don't know anything else to do or how I can go any further (especially when striving to be the Proverbs 31... woman) I know where to get restored! Sometimes it's a good cleaning up, sometimes it's a fresh look/different perspective and sometimes it's just strength to carry on but whatever I need-He's it!
Thought I'd share some notes on these two verses from a Bible study on Psalm 23:
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake"
Often when sheep eat the grass they are very lazy and will just lie around causing a gas to form in their stomach and blows them up to a point it can even come up in their throat and suffocate them. The shepherd must get the sheep up and moving to restore their life. Often when we get lazy or discouraged we must depend on God "restore our soul" and get us moving in the right direction.
"he leadeth me"-If a sheep wandered from the fold the shepherd left the fold and would find it. When he did he would break one of it's legs and carry it back so he would not stray again. Once back in the fold, the shepherd would bandage the leg and carefully watch over the sheep until he recovered. God does the same with us. Even when we stray and don't follow his leadership he disciplines us yet still continues to watch over and care for us.
"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and staff they comfort me."
The shepherd used the rod for protection to fight off bear, wolves, etc and the staff for comfort and pulling the sheep back into the fold.
About 5 minutes after I posted I received a notification that our leader, Abby, had posted. Here's the beginning of her post:
Good morning girls! I hope I read the right verses! I read Proverbs 24:3-4....
The next thing I do is pull back out my GMG notebook and checked what I'd read. It clearly said Proverbs 24:3-4 not Psalms 23:3-4. How could I have been that off? This was my comment under Abby's:
Ok-you were right!! I was totally on the wrong scripture and didn't even realize it until I read your post! I would apologize but I guess the Lord knew what I needed this morning! :)
And Abby's:
I needed what you said too! I like it when He takes over! :)
I'm thankful God's still in control even when we think we have it all planned out. He knows exactly what we need and will restore us even when we least expect it!
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