Psalm 23: He Restores Me...

Psalms 23:3

He restoreth my soul:

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Luke 15:4-5

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

"He restores me"

Restore: to bring back. To heal. To cure. To turn about. To return. 

The first signs of illness in a sheep is isolation and lack of appetite. The sheep might not know it's sick but the shepherd can see it. I have written in my Bible a quote a man of God said years ago, "He notices the need before the sheep does." Have you lost your appetite for the things of God? Are you feeling alone, isolated from everyone else? Wondering if anyone notices or cares about you? Are you sick? Do you feel like you're not gonna make it another day? Do you have a need that no one else knows about? The good shepherd knows, sees, and cares. He can and wants to restore your soul! He wants to revive your heart, replenish you, refocus your eyes back on him. Above all he longs to restore and re-establish his relationship with you.

 I can't count the times I've prayed and asked God not to give up on me. I can be so stubborn sometimes. There's been many times I have saw something and stopped following the shepherd, left the fold and followed after what's caught my eye. Eventually I look around at where it's brought me and I realize I'm lost, unhappy and alone. When I can't find my way back home all I can do is cry out and my shepherd comes to get me. The verse says he goes after...I'm so glad he goes after me..he searches until I'm found. He's faithful to me not matter how unfaithful I am to him!  He remembers my voice even if we haven't talked in a while. When He found the one lost sheep he rejoiced. He didn't punish it for going astray. He rejoiced because he was able to restore his soul and put him back where he belonged. You and I belong with Jesus. 

And again God reminded me that He does all the work. I can't restore myself. I can't fix myself. I can't heal myself. I can't but He can. Restorations are his thing.  He can take a lost, sick, broken sheep and touch it and restore it to what it was before. Sometimes the restoration is even better than the original! When we do our own thing there will be scars but our good shepherd will not throw us away. He is willing to leave the 99 and search for you..just call out to him. When we're too weak to stand He cares enough to come to where we are and restore us. Without restoration there'd be no relationship. The shepherd loves to have a relationship with his sheep. As silly as that may seem. He wants me. He wants you. That's why he's gone through so much trouble, so much pain, done so much work...so he could have YOU. So he could restore your soul. 

"Though I fail the Lord, He has never failed me. He's been everything and more than he said he would be..."