For Christmas, I received a
basket with wine and chocolates. The wines were very good, but it was
chocolate that I was craving. Each morsel was filled with cappuccino and that
is my downfall. I love cappuccino. Think of some of your cravings that make you
smile.
Let me share a story about
cravings that come from one of best-loved piece of poetry in the world, the
23rd Psalm. Of course, lots of people only hear it read at funerals.
Now there's a lot more to
this psalm than just a funeral ditty, because the 23rd Psalm is about life, and
it shows how the Good Shepherd leads us through all the stages of life's
journey.
The first stage is the “green
pastures” of childlike faith. The Lord is my shepherd, and I have everything I
need. Green pasture means food and comfort. Still waters mean every thirst is quenched.
Restored soul means good health: physical health, mental health, spiritual
health. This is what we want our children to believe. This is what we teach
them. Little prayers for mealtime: "Come, Lord Jesus, be our
guest...." Little prayers for bedtime: "Now I lay me down to
sleep...." The green pasture of childlike faith, where a child learns that
when things go well it is because God is there! So far, so good.
BUT, we all know that
childlike faith cannot last. Every one of us, at some time, has to pass through
the shadowy valley of adult anxiety. That childish faith no longer satisfies,
and we ask, "Where is God when it hurts?" "Why doesn't God
answer my prayer, when I need help so badly?" The shadowy valley of adult
anxiety.
Each of us has to leave the
green pasture and walk the valley of shadow. But we don't have to walk it
alone. God wants to walk it with us. The shepherd who protects us with a
swinging rod. The shepherd with His guiding staff. The shepherd of comfort with
a hand to hold.
If the great truth of childlike
faith is that good things happen because God is there, the great discovery of
adult faith is that even when things go wrong, God is still there!
And the image of the psalm
changes from shepherd and sheep to a great banquet. Mature faith discovers that
God is the surprising host who overwhelms us with grace.
At the end of our journey, we
discover ourselves the guests of honor at a great banquet. We can ask, what
have I done to deserve this joy? But there isn't any answer to that question.
The joy comes not from what we've done but from what our host is doing.
I like this part of the
psalm the best. Dwelling in the house of the Lord forever means a never-ending
buffet, the mother of all potluck dinners, an all-you-can eat gourmet banquet.
Chocolate filled with cappuccino and chocolate chip cookies without guilt. And
not a lima bean in sight.
Childhood faith discovers
that every good thing comes from God. Our adult anxieties are calmed when we
discover that God is there even in the dark valleys. And as we near the end of
our journey, we realize that all along it has been a love feast, a banquet in
our honor, pure undeserved joy.
But anyone who has sat at
the banquet table of God is outgrowing those cravings that make us doubt this
love. What earthly chocolate chip cookie can compete with the food offered at
the altar?
How do you recognize the
Good Shepherd's voice? When the cravings die away. When our need to be impatient,
rude or unforgiving dissolves.The Lord is my shepherd, there isn't anything else I want!
Lord, I pray for all my
Sonshine Friends that they hear the voice of God calling them to this banquet.
Help us with our anxieties. Listen! Do you hear a voice? I think we're being
invited to the banquet.
