I recently was honored to attend a weekend retreat for foster & adoptive moms. There are no words to describe the encouragement that comes from being in a space with 800+ moms who “get it,” moms who live this same life with trauma and children from hard places and foster care lingo and the weight of this calling.
During one of the main sessions, Jamie Ivey spoke on Psalm 23, which has been a reoccurring piece of Scripture for me over the past few months. Okay, God, I see what you’re doing here.
The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want (v 1).
He is my Shepherd—my protector and provider and safeguard and rescuer. I have great need of Him. And He Himself is all I need. There are no holes left to fill in me; He is sufficient.
He restores my soul (v 2).
Repair was a theme of the weekend for me. Living in the midst of broken stories and my own sin can bring despair. But I was reminded there is no relationship or soul or mind too far gone for God. He is very very good at restoration.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me (v 4).
What courage and trust it takes to be able to say with confidence: even in this valley that is dark with death, I am not afraid because Jesus is with me. What a sweet gift is His nearness when we are surrounded by grief or pain. There is always light with Jesus. “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Psalm 139:11-12).
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies (v 5).
“Nothing gives God more glory than your enemies watching you be satisfied in Him in the middle of your battle” (Louie Giglio as quoted by Jamie Ivey). In the midst of my stuff—pain, suffering, valley, turmoil, children, courts, myself, sorrow—He prepares a table and He gets all the glory. “He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (v 3).
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (v 6).
This has been my refrain for months now. What a beautiful promise! Surely GOODNESS and MERCY will follow me. I can trust God’s guidance and leadership and nearness . . . His lovingkindness is literally trailing me all the days of my life. Despite circumstances or feelings which might tempt us to believe the opposite is true, this is where we plant our feet and our hope.
Our God is literally the God of redemption, the God of connection, the God of relationship, the God of building bridges: the God of repair. “Remember that at one time you were separate from Christ . . . without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:12-14).
God brings us near to Him.
May we feel His nearness today, trusting our Good Shepherd to bring us to green pastures and quiet waters. “On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:10).
