“The Lord is my Shepherd.”

I have watched flocks of sheep on green mountain sides. They romp about, they graze at will, they loiter in the shade. No sense of hurry, no agitation, no worry. They don’t even look at their shepherd; they know he is there and he cares. And so they are free to enjoy the green pastures and the running spring. Happiness under the sky.

Joyful and carefree. The sheep don’t calculate. How much time left? Where shall we go tomorrow? Will the rains be enough to provide pastures for next year? The sheep don’t care, because there is someone else who cares for them. They live from day to day, from hour to hour. And that is happiness.

“The Lord is my Shepherd.”

If only I believe in that, if I truly believe that the Lord is my Shepherd, my life will change. My anxiety will go, my complexes will dissolve, and peace will return to my troubled nerves. To live from day to day, from hour to hour, because he is there. The Lord of the birds in the sky and the lilies on the field. The Shepherd of his sheep. If I truly believe in him, I am free to move and to breathe and to live. Free to enjoy life. Every moment is precious because it is unstained with the worry of the next one. The shepherd knows, and that is enough for me. Happiness under grace.

The blessing of believing in Providence. The blessing of living under obedience. The blessing of following the promptings of the Spirit in the paths of life.

“The Lord is my Shepherd;