KEEPING OUR BALANCE

Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalms 23:4

Have you ever really thought about

what this verse means?  As I was praying 

for our nation yesterday, I began to 

question the Lord.  My questioning sounded 

like this.  " God I just don't understand 

why our nation is falling apart.  There are

still so many believers who have their trust

in you.  I know you said the last days 

there would be a great turning away.  

I guess I don't understand because there 

are still so many believers."

As I pondered on this thought I felt

the Lord lay Psalms 23 verse 4 on 

my heart.  All day I thought about it

and kept asking the Lord what he means 

by laying this verse on my heart while 

I was praying for my nation.

I feel this was his answer.  "Yes there
are believers who are serving me.
There are American people and even
American believers that have insisted I be
 the God with only the staff,
only a God of love."

They have insisted that I am not the
God of a rod and staff.  The have
demanded I not be the God that carried
a rod, meaning to be a God who
brought judgement.  What  they don't
didn't realize is when they forced
the rod from being used for judgment,
they also lost the protection of the
Mighty Shepherd."

This rod is the rod that the
great shepherd would have used to
beat the head of the serpant, to
attack the bears and wolves.  It would have
been the rod that was used to lift
the wool and find  pestilence and disease
among my sheep and lambs.

This rod was the rod that I
gave Moses to lead my children
through the wilderness and although
the rod meant discipline, it also
was the very item that brought safety
and security.  Living in a nation that has
rejected that rod is an extremely fearful
place to be living, as we are in great need
of our Almighty Shepherds rod.

Therefore I believe as Christians we
need to stand and pray that God will break
us free from our selfishness and bring the
rod back to our nation.  This could mean
we be disciplined for our stubborn hearts
but it would also mean the rod of
protection would be lifted above us.

 Part of walking through the valley with
the great shepherd is the rod and
the staff.  You find them both listed for us,
as a balance.  It's not our place to
tell the Lord to put one down,  he wants
us to have the balance in our lives that
will carry us through valley of
shadow of death or the dark days
we may be facing as a nation.
The staff to draw us into his arms of
love and the rod for discipline and to
smite the enemy and rid us of
all our diseases.

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth 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 thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord for ever.
 Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭1-6‬ KJV