Staff of strength

OK, you know the Lord has something in mind when you sense a prompting to read a daily devotion from a book you haven't picked up in many months, and then see the same theme on the very page you are on in another book. Here's what happened this morning:

This morning as I'm praying and trying to come to life with my coffee in hand, I feel prompted to read today's devotion from Streams in the Desert by L. B. Cowman, a devotional I picked up over a year ago. From time to time I've read a few days at a time, but not really consistently. So I turn to the reading for today, and the verse is short and simple: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Ps 23:4). The writer tells the value of a staff when walking in difficult territory - and his reminder that the Word of God is a staff. He then notes other verses that have been his staff in times of impending danger, He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord (Ps 112:7), and at the loss of a child, Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning (Ps 30:5). He quotes Martin Luther's wife as saying, "I would never have...come to appreciate certain difficulties, or known the inner workings of the soul; I would never have understood the practice of the Christian life and work of God if God had never brought afflictions to my life." God always sends His staff with His rod. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be (Deut 33:25). Each of us may be sure that if God sends us over rocky paths, He will provide us with sturdy shoes. He will never send us on any journey without equipping us well. (pp 47-48)

Less than an hour later, I opened Intimate Faith by Jan Winebrenner, to the page I stopped on yesterday. The section began, "Say "staff" and I think of the good Shepherd from David's psalm. I think of his promise to guide, protect, provide, and comfort. But held in the hands of the King of Kings, the staff becomes a scepter representing sovereignty and the divine authority of our omnipotent God." (p 72) When sending out His disciples, Jesus said, "take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff... (Matt 10:10) - they were to take the sandals and the staffs they had, but not additional ones.

Winebrenner comments that "We are to travel the path of discipleship gripping the staff as a symbol to remind us of the Shepherd's goodness and faithfulness, and as a symbol of his sovereignty and the strength he gladly exerts on our behalf to demonstrate his lavish love for us." (p 72)

The disciples were not asked to go barefoot - they were to wear their sandals. Paul told us to have our feet "fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." That means to keep your gear on and be ready for the journey. "Assured of the truth of the gospel - that God has made a way for us to become his children through trust in his Son, that we are his beloved, and that he has promised never to leave us or forsake us - we can be ready for anything that enters our lives. (p 73).

What an awesome God we serve! He provides the shoes and the staff - we are to keep them handy, on our persons, ready at all times for the journey. Thank you, LORD, for speaking into my heart this morning, and for showing me Your truth.