Daily Manna · Day 13 · January 13
Green Pastures
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”
Picture sheep standing in a field at midnight. All of them are on their feet, and none of them is eating.
Shepherd, You do not suggest that we lie down. The verse says You "maketh me to lie down," and I have read enough about sheep to see how You do it. First You deal with the empty stomach, so You find them grass. Then You deal with thirst, and You lead them "beside the still waters," where they can drink in peace. And then You deal with whatever is moving in the trees, which is Your business and never theirs.
I have been managing my own field. I have kept myself standing over an unfinished list and over a conversation I never had. I have stayed up with the fear that if I ever stopped, I would find out how tired I really am. Make me lie down. I am asking to be overruled, and I do not enjoy asking that. I notice that nowhere in the psalm does anyone ask the sheep for their opinion.
You take charge of everything rest requires. Take charge of it tonight. Amen.
Then, while you are still awake, choose the one task that will still be undone at bedtime. Decide now, while you are calm and not yet cornered, that it can stay undone until morning, because your Shepherd is the one keeping watch over the field.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 13 is A Solitary Place (Mark 1:35).