Pam Padgett - teacher
Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Throughout our lives we see God leading us to places or
circumstances that are "green pastures" for us ... providing what
we need to thrive in the place God has for us at that time. When that
"pasture" starts to dry up in some way, we are moved by God to
another pasture that is the best place for us at that time.
We don't need to strive and try to figure out for ourselves what we need,
but to depend on God to know what is best for us, and go in the way God leads us by the Holy Spirit, and rest in HIS
provision for us.
Thinking about this I recalled some of the times God has led me to green
pastures in terms of where to live and jobs throughout my life ...
At one point when I was a young adult I lived in Oklahoma City.
At that time oil was a big part of business in Oklahoma City and
the oil industry was in a downturn. I was unable to find a
permanent job, so was working temporary jobs as I prayed about this situation. Looking back, it
was as if the job market was drying up, much as a pasture might
dry up.
Then one day I was reminded that my parents had recently mentioned that my
grandmother was finding it harder to take care of her house. My
grandmother lived in another city and state (Colorado Springs, Colorado).
This kept being drawn to my attention and I turned to God asking
if HE wanted me to move to Colorado Springs to help my
grandmother. I came to believe I was being led to do this, much
as being led to another pasture.
In Colorado Springs I immediately got temporary work as a
secretary, which led to full-time job in a few weeks. Whereas it
had become difficult in Oklahoma City, it was as though the way was
prepared for me in Colorado Springs. I very
much enjoyed living in Colorado Springs and helping my grandmother. I believe that was the green pasture provided by God for me
during that time.
After a few years, however, I began to get bored with my job. I
turned to God with this, asking if there was something I might be
able to do that would be of more interest to me, but also telling
God I was willing to stay in this job if that was HIS will for
me.
Soon after this my boss asked me to setup a personal computer and start
doing work on it. I didn't know anything about computers at the
time and as a result of this request, I took some
computer classes.
One class was called "Basic". Since I needed a
basic understanding of computers, my boss and I thought this
sounded like a good class for me to take.
This turned out to be a
class in the programming language called "Basic", and I quickly
realized that programming is what I wanted to do. It was
something that "fit" me perfectly and I enjoyed doing this. It was a
new career
"pasture". In about 6 months I had a part-time programming job
and about a year later was hired
by FedEx as a full-time programmer and was kept in that "pasture"
more than 20 years until I was led to retire.
Several years before I retired, FedEx moved our offices to another
location several miles farther from where I lived. There was also
a lot of road construction between where I
lived and the new location. It would have been very stressful to
me to navigate through the construction each day. One day before
we moved to the new offices, a thought came from the Holy Spirit. I realized that I liked the area where the new offices were and
that I could move to this area. After praying and having this
direction confirmed for me, I sold the house I had at the time and
purchased a house just a few miles from the new offices. In this
way I was led to another "pasture" in where I lived, a very easy
commute, and a neighborhood that has worked out very well for me.
Where I live and where I work are two of the ways God has
provided green
pastures for me. Just as a shepherd watching over His sheep, God
has moved me when needed. And
when there was no need to move, I've been kept me in place by God in
green pastures.
I rejoice to think about how God watches over us and knows what we need. And HE is able to move us
when needed so we may rest in the green pastures which He provides for us.
Comments by Joan Boney:
This reminds me of God moving Elijah from one place to another ...
I Kings 17 ... 1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 5 So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord:for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there:behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath.
Several years ago, I had the following word from God:
"Turn as the path turns. "
If the road turns, you have to turn with that road. Otherwise you'd be off the road.