Are you anxious about the future? Maybe you’re concerned about a problem you’re facing? Are you losing sleep? Perhaps you are worried about your marriage or children. Your health? Finances? An issue at work? Family problems?

If you’re like me you know it’s wrong to worry. After all, I am a child of God. I know that Philippians 4:6 says to be anxious for nothing.

Yet, I worry.

I fret.

I give into my fears.

And I cry out to God.

For months now I’ve been crying out about a situation that is completely out of my control.  A friend suggested I read Psalms 34. I read it every day. This morning verse 9 caught my attention. “…there is no want to them that fear Him.” Then in the next verse it states, “They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” I was reminded of the 23^rd Psalms. It was the first passage I memorized as a small child. In verse one David declares, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Do you notice a pattern?

Those that fear Him lack nothing. Those that seek Him lack nothing. Those that are His sheep lack nothing. Why? Because He is God. He is Holy. He is righteous. He is the Creator and Preserver of all things. He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).

The Lord is my Shepherd. I am His sheep. And guess what? Sheep don’t worry. They just trust. Of course they have good reason to trust. Consider all that a good shepherd does for his sheep.

• A good shepherd daily leads them in and out.
• A good shepherd knows how to feed them and directs their path.
• A good shepherd watches over his sheep. He keeps them safe. He fights for them.
• A good shepherd brings back the ones who have strayed.
• A good shepherd takes them to shade in times of scorching heat.
• A good shepherd gives them good things like rest, oil and, peace.

The Good Shepherd leads me (Psalm 31:3). O, blessed thought! He directs my path (Proverbs 3:6). He keeps me safe (Proverbs 18:10). He lovingly brings me back when I stray (Luke 15:4). He gives me shade during scorching heat/persecution (John 16:33). He cares for me (I Peter 5:7). The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

Sheep don’t worry. They just trust!

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

(Joh 10:9-11)