Читать книгу The Divine Conspiracy Continued: Fulfilling God’s Kingdom on Earth - Dallas Willard, Dallas Willard - Страница 15

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

Such a Shepherd comes to the weary and burdened to whisper hope in their ears: “My dear little children: Really, truly, love one another. That’s the big idea. When you do this, it will answer all your deepest questions and solve all your biggest problems. I’ve designed it that way” (1 John 3:18–20, paraphrased). Our point of breakdown is an opportunity to break through toward a new life. We must begin to imagine a new way of being. Green pastures, calm waters, restoration, safety, security, and provision—this is the life we all long for and seek, and it is exactly what Jesus came to provide. The Good Shepherd corrects all the gaps in our vision for life and fills the voids of our understanding of God’s provision right now, where the rubber hits the road of our daily lives.

Ironically, the prophet Habakkuk makes the same claim, but from a different vantage point. He writes of God’s sufficiency exactly at a time when he and the nation of Israel had been overrun by their enemies. These cataclysmic events at the end of the seventh century BCE left many Israelites’ lives shattered. Not unlike the kinds of scenes we have witnessed during the many Middle Eastern conflicts through the centuries, Habakkuk saw the trauma caused by rapid political change, social turmoil, deadly military engagements, and endless rebellion.² In this cacophony of conflict Habakkuk reminds the people whence their hope springs:

Though the fig tree does not blossom,

and no fruit is on the vines;

though the produce of the olive fails,

and the fields yield no food;

though the flock is cut off from the fold,

and there is no herd in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will exult in the God of my salvation.

God, the Lord, is my strength;

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

and makes me tread upon the heights. (3:17–19)

In light of such a state of sufficiency, even amid conditions of total desolation, an experience of joy, rejoicing, and strength remained. Neither fear of death, nor disease, nor danger, nor hunger, nor pain, nor person, nor creature, nor circumstance, nor loss can interrupt or overwhelm the life lived in the empowering love of the Shepherd’s care (Rom. 8:35–39).