Eden Restored

[llynch]

When I read of the shepherds’ endless search for green pastures I was so encouraged by the vision of the Edenic paradise referred to in the scriptures mentioned (Ps 65:13, Ps 78:19, Ex 15:13). My thoughts went to Isaiah 51, particularly v3:

Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places.
And her wilderness He will make like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

Unlike the shepherds who are at the mercy of rain and drought, our sovereign God does not need to search for green pastures. He has the entire world at His disposal. If we are (I am) experiencing drought is it because, as Tim writes, we have “forsaken the LORD, our true pasture� (Jer 50:7)? And/or do we need to find experientially that only He can satisfy our deepest desires? When our church went through a difficult leadership transition I found that despite my stated beliefs of not being concerned about what others’ thought I was much more concerned that I realized. To be led away from the “poor feed� into “green pasture� God first had to show me the desert. Despite the pain, at rock bottom, I know I am in the Good Shepherd's hand and that brings me true life and confidence.