A Feast of Goodness

I’m so thankful that I took the time to consider a slight course correction last week. Since then, things have been going really well, and I am feeling encouraged. I made an appointment with my psychologist for this week, and here I am now fulfilling the “write another blog within the next seven days” goal that I set last Tuesday.

But I think what has made the biggest difference for me over the past week has been taking a break from Netflix and YouTube. Not only has it allowed me to be a heck of a lot more productive with my time, but it has also freed up my mind and opened up my mental capacity to focus on more important things. Where before I would turn on a show and turn off my brain, distracting myself from my own thoughts and emotions, I have actually been taking more time to sit down and think through some things that I have been avoiding.

For example, over the course of the past four or five days, I have journaled through Psalm 23 in detail, breaking it down bit by bit, thought by thought, and reflecting on what it means to me in this season of my life. This has been an incredibly uplifting and motivating experience, and it has given me a renewed sense of confidence in my “good shepherd”, who truly leads me beside quiet waters and restores my soul.

And the more time I spend reflecting on who He is and the strength and peace that He wants to offer me, the less my fears seem to matter. I’m realizing that when I try to drown them out with distractions, they don’t actually go away. They just fester under the surface, getting ready to pounce when I am most vulnerable.

But that doesn’t happen when I face them in God’s strength. Psalm 23:5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” It gives me this amazing picture of an inexplicable calm in the middle of a crazy storm. My guess is that at the time this Psalm was written, it was not common practice to confidently sit down at a feast when your enemies were upon you. No… you would be preparing for battle! You would be worried, and scared, and panicked. You would say something like, “how can you eat at a time like this?!”

But not the Good Shepherd. Why? Because He is stronger than any enemy. He is more powerful than the scariest threat. He is greater than anything I fear. And when I focus my energy, my mind, my heart on Him, rather than on my fears, they just don’t matter anymore. I can sit down confidently and eat the feast of goodness that He has prepared for me—even in the presence of my greatest fears. Because He is all the protection I need.

I’m so glad that I took some time off from mindless entertainment to be reminded of these powerful truths this week. I still have all kinds of fears that I am facing. But I am not facing them alone. And that is enough inspiration to keep me going!

What inspires you?