Today's Passage - Psalm 23:2-3

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Psalm 23:2-3   "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake."             Not only God delivers us from the fear of lacking, he also delivers us from the fear of unknown future. Many times our hearts are fearful because we only look at the circumstances. Stock marketing crashing and companies doing massive layoff are all real circumstances. Our hearts become fearful because of our analysis based of our intelligence. Our intelligence tells us that "seeing is believing," but we need to learn that "believing is seeing." We need to believe that God is enthroned, His Word is still steadfast, His eyes are still on us, His arms are not shortened. In fact, God is guiding us using His own way, not to the green pastures and quiet waters that we think is good but to the green pastures and quiet waters that He has prepared for us.             We need to believe that God is in control, that He is holding the steering and we can trust in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says that "for we live by faith, not by sight." This is because what we see would change and could be deceiving. Just like the times of Elisha, when the King of Aram and his army attacking Dothan, the servant of Elisha saw the army he asked "Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?" But Elisha said to him "Don't be afraid" for "those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Elisha prayed that God would open the eyes of the servant, then the servant's eyes were opened and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around them.             What we see with our eyes could be deceiving and cause us not to see the real situation. What is the real situation? It is the presence of God. The Lord says that he guides us along the right paths for his name's sake. It is not for our sake, for our faith goes up and down. He does this for His name sake, for His name is high above all names, the most holy and honored name who never fail. Therefore He will guide us into eternity for His name sake.   Pastor Tong       Dear Lord, I thank you, for You will lead us in facing the unknown future. Through You we have faith to overcome. May You grant us a courageous heart to trust in You in our daily lives. I thank you and I pray all these in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!