Beside Quiet Waters: Psalm 23Sample

He Leads Me

We moved into a new house shortly before having our first baby. Our son was born in March, and the month finally brought with it some beautiful weather to walk around the neighborhood and start meeting neighbors. There was only one problem. My walks were when the floodgates opened, and the tears started flowing.

There was something about going on a walk alone when my baby was sleeping in the stroller that I was able to really process some of the things I was feeling. I think what was hardest for me in that first postpartum season wasn’t a specific struggle with something like breastfeeding or sleepless nights. What was hardest for me was a sense of despair that I’d never figure things out. With all the changes, I felt lonely, disoriented, and depressed at times, and I didn’t see a path forward. Needless to say, I always carried sunglasses with me on those walks…

In whatever stage of motherhood you are in, perhaps you, too, struggle with knowing the way forward.Maybe you’re in the thick of the newborn season and longing to feel like yourself again. Maybe your toddler just entered a challenging stage and you’re longing to get to the point when you feel confident and competent in your parenting. Maybe you just started a new job, or your child started a new school, and you’re longing to get a new routine down, to feel like things are under control. In all our longing, our hopes can often feel so out of reach.

Psalm 23:2 reminds us that we are not on our own to navigate the way forward. “He leads me…” We can be confident in this: God is leading us into his abundant life. This word “lead” echoes the use of the same verb in Exodus 15:13 when Moses praises God for parting a sea and leading the Israelites into freedom from the Egyptian army pursuing them. “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed,” Moses declares. Psalm 23:2 draws a parallel to this act of rescue, reminding us that God always makes a way!

Today, if you feel a sense of discouragement, remember that you are not on your own but are instead being led into abundant life by a God who loves you.