It is so sweet to think of the ways the Lord is a shepherd to us. I followed the lead of James McDonald’s weekly devotion and started to list the ways he leads, protects and feeds us, just like a good shepherd. I am always so impressed with the way the Lord leads. Do you ever have the experience of needing to make a decision that you can’t put your finger on just yet? You’re contemplating, but nothing really seems best. Whether it’s the next hour or a few days later, a direction is brought to light or a path seems available that you never could have thought up on your own? The thought in your mind is perfect, but you know it is not your own. That’s my measure for when it is the Lord. I am sure it is the Lord when the thought resolving my indecision is other-worldly; impossible to be thought up by me, but truly perfect. He leads in the most magnificent ways.

With respect to His quality as a protector, I am very intrigued by what I cannot see. I am intrigued by the power of Christ. I think about what the Lord allows and disallows in my life even in one twenty-four hour period. I can’t even imagine what He protects each one of us from as we walk through our day. I remember years ago spinning off the expressway into the median in rush hour traffic. I stepped out of my car shaking like a leaf. Two people pulled over to help me. One turned out to be a sister in Christ. She was perplexed that my car spun through two lanes and landed in the median backwards without being hit. She said to me as I shook, “Are you a believer in God?” Still shaking, I nodded yes. She replied, “Sister in Christ, stop shaking. You are okay.” The other man who pulled over was an off duty EMT who held back the traffic so I could get back in the traffic. A few weeks later I found out that I was pregnant when this took place. He is a protector. This is His invisible power. We won’t know all of the details until we can take a look from the other side, but I marvel even now at His power and protection over our lives.

The Father also feeds us. I have heard Beth Moore say that she believes this is an extraordinary time where regular people like you and me have access to studies and devotions and teachers to know the word of God like no other generation. This is so true. We have an abundance of truth at our fingertips, literally. He has given us the opportunity to be permeated with good teaching, to learn like a scholar, to think like a disciple. I pray that I don’t get lackadaisical about what is available to me. I pray that I stay hungry and feed on the goodness of His word.