Green Pastures and Still Waters

UV 1557/10000 Green Pastures and Still Waters
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psalm 23 v 2

A leader has the role of a shepherd. He leads his followers to places of sustenance, opportunities to be blessed physically, mentally, spiritually and socially. These are referred to as “green pastures”. In the world, everyone is always looking for greener pastures or some improvement in their employment and emoluments, some improvement in the place they stay and the lifestyle they enjoy. People are never contented with what they have or where they have got to. But there are no greener pastures than what the Lord leads us to. He is the cause and source of Shalom or peace and prosperity. The “still waters” are a metaphor for peace while the “pastures” are a metaphor for prosperity. The abilities, talents and opportunities we have are also “green pastures”. Prosperity is useless unless it comes mixed with peace. Every promise of God written in scripture is a green pasture of heaven. It is provided freely like grass in the meadows. But it is our responsibility and response to graze, to chew on the promise and extract the nutrients to strengthen our inner being. Every holistic human need is met in the promises that I call uni-verses. We cannot chew on it just once in a week or once in while but daily and frequently. Chewing is meditating. The absorption of the nutrients is the distillation of spiritual wisdom from each verse and its practical application to our lives. Next to prayer, meditation is a great “still water.”

Peace is the absence of any permanent source of sorrow or grief. When God makes a man prosperous, He adds no sorrow to it. It implies that a person can become prosperous by his or her own brilliance, talents and efforts. But, if a sorrow is added, the prosperity becomes bitter. Peace is not the absence of worries. But by being prayer warriors, we cease to be worriers. Prayer gives us access to still waters. The Lord fills us with His peace, the kind of peace that passes human comprehension and apprehension. It is the peace that comes from a complete trust in our good Shepherd Jesus. In the course of His public ministry, Jesus is recorded to have handled every conceivable type of human problems- sickness, bereavement, storms, possession, financial challenge and every time shown mankind the victory of the Lord. This gives us the confidence that He can and will help us resolve every issue in our lives.

Another “still water” is just lying still in the presence of the Lord and knowing that He is supreme and sovereign, that He is in control and that He knows what we need and how to provide it. It is a quiet surrender of our total being to Him. Yet another “still water” to refresh us and to renew us, to satisfy our thirst is the Holy Spirit. We need to yield to the promptings and counsel of the Holy Spirit. Sheep do not move alone but move in flocks. Another still water the Lord calls us to is fellowship and unity in the spirit between believers. Where even two or three are gathered remembering the Lord, the Lord’s presence is guaranteed. The Lord’s presence is a still water that refreshes us and renews our strength. It is said, “ still waters run deep” implying that we need to communicate at a deep level with the Lord, at our deepest levels. We need to both listen and communicate.
Prateep V Philip