A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 By W. Phillip Keller – Chapter 5 Reflection:
How did God “turn you over” and set you back on your feet?
Reading through this chapter and reflecting on this question, I’ve come to realize that there have probably been many times since coming under the Shepherd’s care that I have become “cast” and had to be set back on my feet. As I ponder on what those times have looked like, I realized that I don’t have to go back that far to find a time when He has restored my soul.
In chapter 5 of A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller writes the following. “In the Christian life there is great danger in always looking for the easy place, the cozy corner, the comfortable position where there is no hardship, no need for endurance, no demand on self-discipline.” While I won’t say that this is a perfect description of how I believe I became “cast,” I do think it comes pretty close.
I served for eight years on the operations team at Gateway Church of Blue Springs. I began as a team member shortly after coming to Christ. After a while, I became a team leader and eventually became a ministry team leader, where I co-lead with another member of Gateway. I officially stepped down from this role just three months ago (1/1/2020) to clear my plate as I prepared for 23 Ministry. It’s only now looking back, and in light of this study, that I am beginning to realize that somewhere along the line in those eight years, I may have become “cast.”
Now, before I continue, I want to be clear. This season in which I served on the operations team was extremely fruitful in my walk with Christ, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. This season granted me an opportunity to exercise my spiritual gift of service and to serve the church regularly. It put me in the midst of God’s people and provided opportunities, at first for fellowship, and eventually, leadership. Every Sunday that I served, I would bring my sons along with me to help out, and nothing during this season brought me greater joy than to have the opportunity to lead them and model for them what it meant to serve God and to serve God’s people. And perhaps one of the highest compliments I have ever received came during this season when a woman at Gateway likened me and my co-lead to John the Baptist and said that our service helps to prepare the way so that others can come and meet Christ.
However, somewhere along the line, I think I became complacent. You see, service comes very easy for me. It’s one of my gifts. It requires very little hardship, endurance, or discipline on my part. I love to serve. And I couldn’t be more proud of that, but I think the problem was that it required minimal stretching on my part. What stretched me during the early years of this season was the building of relationships with others in the church. And then, I moved through a couple of leadership roles in the ministry, and that stretched me a bit more. But eventually, the stretching sort of stopped. I came to a point where, while I still absolutely loved to serve and was happy to do it, I just wasn’t being challenged in it anymore. I was going through the motions, and for a long time, I seemed to think that that was enough. And that, I believe, is where I became “cast.”
Now that’s not to say that everything we do must be challenging or stretching. There are plenty of people who serve just for the sake of serving and one day again if that is where God leads me, I very well may be one of them. But there should still be something in your walk that challenges you. That’s the thing about Christ. He doesn’t allow us to follow him and sit on the sidelines. When He calls, He calls us to rise to the challenge. He calls us to deny ourselves and to take up our cross and follow him. (Mt. 16:24) Ever been called on a mission trip? It’s challenging. Ever tried to share the Gospel with a stranger? It will stretch you. Try going to church on Sunday and asking the pastor if it’s easy giving a sermon every week. If the answer is yes, RUN!
So the point of all this is that, as Keller says that if our life with Christ isn’t challenging, then we are in a dangerous place. One example of what this looks like for me, when I find that I’m not being challenged in my walk, I find it more and more difficult to get into scripture. In contrast, when I am being challenged in my walk, I can’t get enough of His word. Or put another way; The more I find myself stretched in my walk with Christ, the closer I see myself walking with Him.
So, how did God “turn me over” and set me back on my feet? How did He restore my soul? Well, first, He called me to begin leading a LifeGroup at Gateway Church. Next, He invited me to go on a mission trip to Jamaica. And most recently, He called me to 23 Ministry. Each time He calls me to be challenged and stretched more and more. Each time He calls me deeper and deeper into fellowship with Him. Six weeks into 23 Ministry and I can tell you that I am more challenged and stretched in my walk now than I have ever been, and I’ve never felt closer to Christ than I do at this very moment.
Here is the bottom line. I’ve said a lot in the post, but if you only remember one thing remember this; Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and to take up our cross and follow him. (Mt. 16:24) I believe the reason why He calls us to bear this burden is that it forces us to rely on him. It forces us to recognize how much we need him, and it forces us into a closer, more profound relationship with Him. If the cross He gave you to bear has lost its weight, if it’s no longer heavy, it might be time you ask Him if it’s still the cross you should be carrying, or if He has more for you.