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“Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me.”  Psalm 23:4b (NLT)

Yesterday we saw that when an unexplainable tragedy occurs, it forces us to decide if we will continue to trust the heart of God or if we will take life into our own hands and decide we know better. This choice determines the trajectory of our life, so it is not to be taken lightly. This choice may not come without blood, sweat and tears as we wrestle with the Almighty begging Him for clarity, which we may never see. But it is a battle worth fighting.

Psalm 23:4b tells us that His rod and His staff protect and comfort us. A shepherd would have been equipped with both at all times. The rod was used to count the sheep, but also to keep wild animals away, in other words, to protect his sheep.

Interestingly enough, the staff was only used if you were a shepherd. The staff would not work for any other animal-it was the trademark tool for the shepherd. It was used to redirect the sheep if needed, but mostly to keep the sheep close to the shepherd and then to save the sheep if they got in a difficult position, particularly if they ran away from the shepherd.

Isn’t it fascinating that God wanted these two tools in the Psalm we recognize the most for comfort and care? He wants us to know that He is the Great Shepherd and He will protect us, redirect us, keep us close to Him, and bring us back to Him, if we should go astray. His heart is for us, to love us, and His desire is to walk with us all the days of our lives. Psalm 23:6 states it this way, “Surely Your goodness and  unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.”

There are no guarantees in this life, and I am sure by now you have noticed that tragedies and unthinkable pain happen to both those who walk with Jesus and those who do not. The difference is whether we choose to trust the heart of the Shepherd, all the while knowing that this world is not our home and this pain will not last forever because we will “live in the house of the Lord forever”  (Psalm 23:6b). There is more to this life than meets the eye.

We can trust Him because He went through the unthinkable so that we would not ever have to walk alone.

“Lord, God, help us to cling tightly to You as the waves of pain wash over us. Thank you for being our Shepherd and always giving us Hope in Jesus.”

For His Glory

Terrie Tollerson
TRBC Women’s Life