“The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For the sake of His name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I 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 have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.” – Psalms 23:1-6 NASB
This past week the Father met me so close. In fact, I’d say it was one of the most powerful encounters I’ve experienced. I wasn’t expecting Him to show up when He did, but, I also wasn’t shocked when I felt the familiar wrap of His love, reminding me how good He is. Thank you God!
When we read Genesis 3, the first thing the Lord says to Adam after he ate of the fruit is, “where are you?” We know the Lord was aware of where Adam was, because He’s the Lord and knows all things. I think His spirit immediately felt the separation between Him and his son, as did Adam. His immediate response was to draw His son to himself- asking him where he was. I think the Lord is always asking us “where are you?” Thankfully, we have an open invitation to draw near to our Father and Creator. We can thank Jesus for that.
Earlier this week my daughter was playing with her baby doll and something she did stood out to me. When her baby was crying she brought the doll to me and asked me to cuddle her. She came straight to the source. She knows where the best nurture comes from.
What if Adam had just gone back to the Father and asked him why he couldn’t eat of the tree? What if he went to the source instead of going his own way?
Then the revelation hit. All of me, my needs, family, finances, resources, dreams, desires and hopes, my heart, and my mind are best left in the Fathers will and in His hand. He is concerned about me at all times. Even though I’m “playing mom” and can do it well, the source is Him. Adam had access to and authority over the whole garden (except for the one tree), it was all His, but he walked away from his dad, from the source, and in doing so, it was disastrous.
Aren’t we so much better tended in His hand? We need His love so bad. One of my favourite lyrics says “I need your love like I need water” because it is so true.
I want to turn to Him more than all the other things. He is the source of all good things, and will turn our ashes into beauty – that’s His promise. Let’s turn toward Him together. He really is as good as we need Him to be. ❤️