Where is God?
To my shame, it has taken me almost a year to get round to reading Paul Miller’s book, A Praying Life. It’s really good! It’s so good, I wish I’d read it much sooner – still, better late than never. So, if you haven’t yet discovered this treasure, I hope you will soon.
In a brilliant insight, he imagines how Psalm 23 would read if we removed the Good Shepherd and everything he does: “… my … I shall be in want … me … my soul … I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear evil, … me … in the presence of my enemies … my head … my cup … all the days of my life … I …” Isn’t that desperate?! All I’m left with is myself and my troubles, with no-one to turn to or to help. As Miller says, “With the Good Shepherd gone, we are alone in a world of evil.”
I was speaking in Bluecoat School chapel this week, and I found myself saying that trusting God can bring trouble, but that not trusting him will bring nothing but trouble. I’ve no idea if the children understood what I was trying to say, but this reflection on Psalm 23 certainly backs that up. Yet how often I try to do life without God, as if I can manage myself and he either can’t help me or doesn’t want to. And, what a surprise, I find myself growing impatient, snapping at others, indulging desires I should never have had – when he is only too eager to shepherd me, to lead me, restore me, guide me and be with me even through the darkest times. And all I have to do is ask!