Part 2 of:

~Psalm 23~ 4-6

“Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of

death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

In the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow

me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.”

• He is with me.

“I will fear no evil, for you are with me,”

Always and forever. A lot of times, I wonder why I don’t feel God near me. Did I do something wrong? Am I being tested? Did God decide to pack up and leave? I can tell you with confidence that God never left. God’s Word promises that he is always with us. (Joshua 1:9, Matthew 28:20b) We leave. And sometimes, I do believe God tests us to see how strong our faith is, like he did with Job (although God already knows us completely, I believe he tests us to grow us). I rely so, so much on my feelings. God is graciously teaching me to rely on what I know instead. For example, I may be feeling sad, but I know God is real, I know he’s good, and I know God loves me. I will choose to hold to what I know. God has used a song called, “What I Know” by Tricia Brock to be an inspiration to me in this struggle.

• He comforts me.

“your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”Just put this together. Take apart the word ‘comfort’. Com and fort — come to the fort. God is our fortress, our mighty tower, our protection.We can cry, laugh, shout, dance (without talent), be angry, smile, all of these things, with God. He wants to be our comfort. His Word is full of reassurance and helps us face life and enjoy it.

• He prepares me.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

Ever felt called to speak to someone you were scared of or didn’t like? I understand that battle, and God will prepare you for it. In fact, he gives us his armor (Ephesians 6) and “You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.” (Psalm 18:35)

So cool story, bros… and sisters. This girl was not my enemy, but I was scared of her. This story I’m going to tell you all actually happened to me this semester. I was walking down a hallway and stopped to talk to this girl, who spoke to answer my questions and that was about it, while I was like little Daisy Do with a pad and pencil, trying to learn more about her. The next time I greet her, she tells me she’s busy, obviously telling me she’s not in the mood to talk. I’m confused and saddened, and not much time passes when God tells me to write her a letter. So, I do. The next time I expect to see her, I’m in the bathroom, off that hallway, and my mind is in a panic. “I’m scared, God. I am supposed to do this, right? Yes because fear is not from you. I need to do this. I’m going to. If I don’t go now, I may not get out of here..” You guys know how it is. We can talk ourselves out of things. Thankfully, I walked down that hallway toward her. With the paper in my hand, barely taking the time to look at her, I slid the paper like a Frisbee onto her seat and kept on a-trucking. I looked back to see she quickly got up and walked into a room. I thought I screwed things up.

‘Gee, Cassie. Why did you do it like that..’

The next three to five times, she was not present in that hallway when I left class.

‘Did she even read that letter? I hope someone did. She’s definitely avoiding me.’

Well, within the last two weeks, on a gloomy Monday, I walked out of class to see someone sitting down the hallway. I wondered if it was her and started walking that way, when a small voice told me to turn around.I didn’t listen to this one. The person in that seat was her. I kept walking and thought I would just walk right past her, taking the time of day to stop for nothin’. As I’m walking past her, she pops out her ear buds, and gently and lightheartedly says, “Hey.” This, my friends, is the start to a beautiful friendship. Wrapping up the story, she invites me to sit by her. I do, and she tells me she read my letter and that she’s a Christian. She engaged in conversation with me, and it was totally God’s work. I tell you all this for you to see that God prepares us. He equips. (Hebrews 13:21) Things don’t always turn out peachy like this, but God is working. He’s got a plan. Trust in him.

• He anoints.

“You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, you’ve been given the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit’s touch on our lives, oo! World watch out. The issue is we are not always allowing the Holy Spirit to have all of us. We are strong believers in take-backs if God doesn’t have all of us (whether it be due to drugs you gave up but started doing again, a girlfriend that needs to be let go, a job you should have not taken but did anyway, ect.).