Desert Thriving

"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the valley of death,
I will fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me..." (Psalm 23)

What is the image you see as you read this?  What are your visions and expectations that run through your mind and heart? I used to see Ferdinand the bull, the children's book.  A peaceful day of laying in belly deep alfalfa with birds singing and the aroma of summer erasing every care.  This is what I used to see until I started to listening to Ray Vander Laan a man who takes you on adventures through Israel and the footsteps of Jesus. 

As Ray was watching the Bedouin people leading their sheep through the desert.  He turned and asked his guide, "What do the sheep eat? Are they rock eating sheep?"  His guide laughed and quoted the Psalm about the green pastures.  Every night a strong east wind comes through the desert bringing in moisture from the sea. With this moisture that collects behind the rocks, small sprigs of grass rise from the ground, about four inches tall. As long as the sheep stay with their shepherd they will be safe and led to their green pastures and be fed for that day.  When the sun brings heat upon the land it dries up the grass and with each new day, new grass will appear. 

"He leads me beside quiet waters," what is the vision you have here?  My vision is Mirror Lake.  Water so deep and quiet you can see every insect make its ripple as it lands upon the water.  This is not the image Ray paints for the desert water.  A wadi is a river bed that is usually dry, until it rains and floods during the rainy season.  If you do not know about the flood danger and find some still water in this bed, you may be in great danger of a flash flood, but the Bedouin people have a system that will keep their shepherds and flocks safe.  Quiet waters refer to waters that are safe and will not kill you if your shepherd is close.

We are a blessed people.  I am a very blessed woman, but I often see things through the wrong eyes.  My vision may need to be broadened. We see life from the eyes of green mountains full of green valleys.  Then when the deserts of life are upon us we seem to crumple and wilt under the heat.  I have had MS for 19 years.  It has been a journey that has taken me to places and discovering things about life and God that I probably would never have tried for without it.  I recently went on a new adventure with stem cell therapy through StemGenex.  Most of my 19 years with MS have been years in survival mode.  

For example: Tuesday nights I have LIVE with my young adults.  Before LIVE I spend most all day Tuesday reserving every bit of energy I can by sleeping most of the day.  Then Wednesday, I don't leave the house.  I'm in recovery.

Thursday I usually go up to Crested Butte and take care of our properties we have through our real estate business.  Thursday afternoon is spent in recovery. Friday is usually my laundry day where I fold most all of the clothes I have washed during the week.  Time spent on the couch folding, watching a movie, sleeping.  Life has been a time of precious energy spent and much recovery "time wasted".  

I have always thought that I was missing out on the blessings of God, but through a little different vision, actually I have been learning to follow my Shepherd to my green pastures.  I have survived this long, not without suffering and trials, but in-spite of them.  I have a joy that no one is allowed to take from me, a joy that I can only give away if I stop looking in the right direction.  I will not fear the valley of death for my God is Always with me.  I will be comforted and He has blessed me more than I ever imagined.  After my treatment I have more energy now than I ever remember. I no longer feel I am in survival mode. This is huge in my world, but it has taken much time and endurance to get here.  But this journey with my new treatment has just begun, the next nine months will reveal more and I cannot wait to take that new fresh taste. 

Crowds Chanting

Matthew 21:1-11, "A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted,'Hosanna to the Son of David!' 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Hosanna in the highest!' When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, 'Who is this?'"

I worked on a ranch when I was younger. I loved getting up early, feeding and catching the horses. Then being on horse back just as the sun was coming up over the horizon. It just so happened that the ranch that I worked on worked cows and sheep. The cows were my favorite. They were work, but they were fun too. The sheep on the other hand, they were just annoying. One thing that I noticed about them was that when you are herding them, they will not walk up a hill. So you have to take them the long way around the hill before you can get up it. For the straight path is much too hard at first, so around the same hill you must go, gradually gaining altitude. Something else that I noticed was that when you caught them, they just laid there. Once they were caught, the fight was over. No wonder coyotes thought they were an easy meal. They didn't go straight up a hill, even to get away from danger. And once you caught them, they just laid there never fighting again. But something both cows and sheep had in common, they both followed each other without knowing where they were going or why. As far as they knew we were going to feed them. I will put it nicely, feeding them is not what we were doing...

Many times throughout the bible we are referred to as sheep. So often we are following wherever the next breeze blows us. Instead of learning our lesson the first time, we insist that we must take the long way around the same mountain, over and over again. We will follow any crowd, never knowing what is going to happen in the end, or caring why. This is what happened when Jesus entered the city. The crowds were rejoicing, but they didn't know why. They were worshiping Christ, just because their friends were. It was like going to a game without knowing what teams were playing. Who do you rout for? Depends on what side of the stadium you enter and who your friends are routing for. You will yell and cheer, but never really having any true heart for the outcome. This is why we must carefully choose our friends, because we are sheep and we will follow them, anywhere.

Oswald Chambers, "This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle-we must be spiritually real." Are you a Christian? Do you know why? Are you just flowing along, following the crowd not really knowing who your shepherd is? Or, do you see Him? Sheep that follow their Shepherd because they know and see Him are much different than sheep who blindly follow the crowd. Who are you and what are you doing here?

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/03/29/devotion.aspx?year=2010