Lord, recently I had this aha moment. I was thinking how I always come back to art journaling or vision journaling about travel. And I realized I have been beating myself up about that. The aha came when I thought, what if I always come back to travel because I am meant to travel. What if it is calling me and literally is part of Your calling on my life? What if this longing I have is from You to begin with?
So, Lord, I have this want. But…I shall not want.
Stop right there. You are reading the Psalm incorrectly. You are applying the wrong English definition of want.
You are thinking, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not long for…anything. You have made longing for sinful. No, no, no!
The meaning is, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not lack for any good thing.
What is a good thing for you? Of course body nourishment, sustenance. A safe place to live and work. Meaningful work that brings you and others joy. And yes, travel. I didn’t create this beautiful, diverse world and then sentence you to spend your days behind some small fenced-in area.
You cannot let the fear of what might happen, which you carry every single day anyway, stop you—stop you from living your own life in the now. You keep hitting Pause, and then getting up and leaving the movie of your own life. You keep stopping the action to live in the commercial.
Write down, right now, quickly, all the places you can think of that you want to travel to.
Lord, I want so much…
I am I AM; I Am your Shepherd, you shall have all you want, all you long for. For it is I Who planted these seeds of longing within you. And after you have begun to fulfill your longings for beauty and connection here, I shall unroll the map of the world, place by place. You shall be My Creation’s ambassador. You shall go and see and experience, and teach, and come back and share and write and create and go again, all with camera in hand. Your blessing will bless and enrich many others. You are an explorer of light; you shall not lack for any good thing.
Oh my……it is as if looking at the mirror of my hearts desires!! You see I have traveled to Africa several times with our church’s mission team but my husband was healthy. I now have the possibility to go back as a board member of a non-profit but I keep putting it on hold, “hitting the pause button” because of my husband’s health issues…10,000 miles and a continent is a long way away from home. My heart is to capture the beauty of His Creation with my camera and to share with people. Oh my……
Again thank you Eve for your obedience & for sharing your heart.
Oh, Gail, now I understand why I was prompted to share something so obviously personal–so that these words could speak to you and encourage your heart as well. I am so grateful. Thank you for telling me.