BBD 01.25.16 All Tied Down (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
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The Burning
Bush Devotional
Classic
from 2003
01.25.16
All Tied Down
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in
green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He
leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are
with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before
me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs
over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I
will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. - The 23rd Psalm.
While hospitalized in 2003, I found myself facing a new
situation. The last time I had been in the hospital it had been 43 years ago
when I was ten years old, and my appendix was removed. It was a different
world then with sheets between the beds and one bathroom at the end of a
large ward of beds. I do remember though that I enjoyed the food with fruit
juices and my uncle brought me a comic book. In hospitals now they have these
six sticky round things they stick on your chest and hookup wires to them -
it's like having a continual EKG. Those wires all flowed off to the right,
as did the tubes for the blood pressure cuff; and the oxygen level placed on my
right finger, or taped on as it sometimes was done. On my left side was a
portal where IV fluids were dripped into my blood. There was about three feet
of leeway for me to stand and move on my left side, which was enough to make it
to a potty chair. My options for movement were more limited than they had ever
been in my life.
The words of the 23rd
Psalm flow with words of comfort and peace which
we will never outgrow the need of hearing. I have always loved verse two, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the
still waters.” “He makes me lie down….” The
shepherd would bring his sheep into a place of good pasture and would make them
stay in that good place. The making of the sheep to stay where there was good
food to eat, and still water to drink was for their benefit. However, as I have
been told many times, sheep are not very intelligent. If the shepherd did not
make them stay in the place where they had protection, food, and water the
sheep would have wandered off. It was for their benefit. Most likely it was
hard for the sheep to understand.
It was hard for me to comprehend the inability to move,
but it was for my benefit. It benefited me in that life-giving medicines flowed
into my body, and that the condition of my body could be constantly monitored.
If it had been up to me, I would have just unplugged everything and walked out;
but I was too weak, and I knew it would only delay my healing. Like the sheep,
I was made to lie down in a place of “green pastures” and “still
waters.” Like the shepherd of sheep, the Great
Shepherd was constantly watching and present the entire time. I think I had
been sick for more than a year, and had not realized it. It was slowly growing
worse until I had an acute attack. It could have been much worse. I am thankful
for a time of “green pastures” and “still waters” that have helped to bring healing and renewed life to my
body.
Are you all tied down? You may not be tied down
physically with wires and tubes as I was - it may be something else. I will
leave that for you to consider in your own life, but if you are tied down, it
may be for your benefit. The Great Shepherd may have reached down, and given
you “green pastures” and “still waters” even though you did not want them. But it is for your
benefit. It is because He loves you and is caring for you. There may come a
time when He leads you on to new pastures and new waters - until then, remember
you do have a Shepherd, and He loves you. Can you feel your soul being
restored? I can feel my soul being restored as the Great Shepherd breathes in
new life.
Copyright © 2003-2016. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of those
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