Green Pastures

The Lord is my shepherd

I shall not want 

He leads me beside the still waters

He makes me to lie down in green pastures

He restores my soul

He leads me to paths of righteousness
For His name sake. 

                                                                                                        

On our trip from California to northern Minnesota we saw  many sheep grazing in green pastures which is how I pictures Psalm 23 to be. Lush green grass with a stream near by.  And even though I have been to Israel and seen sheep grazing I still thought of the  picture such as the one above when I read this passage.  

Until 

I watch the video below from, "That The World May Know" ministry founded by  Ray Vander Laan.  He is the creator of Faith Lessons video series with Focus on the Family.   Give it a listen and tell me what you think of his take on Psalm on 23.  


                   

Big Picture/Little Picture

I take very few pictures with my phone because they never seem to give justice  to what I snap.   Take this one on the left. You can get the big picture easy enough, man looking over the rock formation  to the valley below.  Inside that big picture is some very amazing images that were pointed out to me or I would have missed them.

 As we were coming up the winding road to where this picture was taken there was several times we were much closer to the tall rock formation. In fact it was easy to see it was really three formations reaching to the sky.  And on top of the tallest one was a ton of people who had climbed, without ropes to the very top.  In fact I notice something red close to the top. Our friends pointed out it was a rock climber and sure enough in a few minutes that red dot was on top of the formation. As we climbed higher and higher, to about 7, 500 feet that rock formation looked kind of little and we could not see the people on top, I had lost sight of the red dot which was the shirt on someone back.

It was breathtaking beautiful at the top with the valley spread out before us and being able to see the canyons that wind and rain had carved out through the years.  Seriously I could have pitched a tent right where the picture was taken and feasted on the site as the sun came up and went down.  And if I was much younger I would have liked to  rock climbed those pillars of century old rocks.

Every turn we took gave us a different view of the beauty of the park and I was reminded how life is like that.  God brings turns that help us see clearly a certain aspect of life.  Sometimes He brings us close enough to see details and sometimes we just see the big picture and each one is enough for He is in both.

I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will. Isaiah 46:10