We all like to envision tables set before us, and most of the time, we think of a loaded table in an atmosphere of light and pleasantry. Overflowing cups and someone anointing our head seems to indicate a loving, safe, unusually grace-filled time.
But see this: “in the presence of my enemies.”
This means when all is wrong and nothing’s right and you want to sink into darkness because your world is heavy, shattered, and full of turmoil. When your enemies are still present, and their presence permeates your atmosphere and unsettles your heart and makes you want to cringe in fear or distress.
Here is where He prepares a table for you– right here.
Right in your enemies’ presence, He wants you to sit and be fed. He wants them to see your feasting, and know you are a child well cared for. He wants others in your life to see His goodness to you in the face of impossible odds.
He’s glorified in the dark, friends. We crave ease, but if all were ease we would not need a Savior and He wouldn’t get to display His care in the presence of our enemies.
“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” [Psalm 34:5]
He says to you, friend who is in the trenches, friend who has a fatal illness, friend who doesn’t know what to do with her past, friend who has discovered an unfaithful spouse, He says to you, right to your heart, that if you look to Him your face will be radiant, and you will not be ashamed.
You won’t bow your head in shame as you walk about town; your heart will not be dry because He’s preparing a table for you.
He even has a trickle of oil for your head, just to let you know you are loved.
We mustn’t be afraid of broken things. When the heart breaks open, it leaves a crack all the way to the core for Love to trickle in. If we were whole, competent, and satisfied, our hearts would not be as tender or receptive for the greatest Gift of all to saturate us all the way down.
That shattered place in your life that makes you want to cringe, run, or shut down— brave friend, will you embrace it today? Will you bravely say, “This is where I am, and I will not fight it?”
When you do that, Heaven comes to lead you right into the greatest grace you will ever know. Embrace your broken, for in doing so you embrace Grace. And that grace will prove to you a greater gift than if you were never shattered at all.
In that place, you become a testament of Love for the Love-Giver Who so wanted the world to see how strong love is, that He sent His one and only Son to walk among us, suffer, and die a cruel death in the hands of angry men– the very men He created.
He died, and then He rose gloriously. He wasn’t afraid of death because He knew He would rise. And you, friend, when you are no longer afraid of your own broken places, will rise with Him.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup overflows.” [Psalm 23:5 ESV]
Father, thank you for feeding us right in the presence of our enemies. Thank you that Your love is known even more deeply when trouble surrounds us. Thank you that You triumph.
~Women of Purpose
Women of Purpose 