I Am Being Followed
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” — Psalm 23:6 (NKJV)
“To survive this season, you must have Shepherd confidence.” — PG
Life with God does not always feel like victory. Sometimes you make it through a difficult season and still cannot make sense of what happened. You believe God can come through, but after everything you have experienced, you are afraid to expect that He actually will.
You believe He heals, but you are still hurting. You believe He provides, but the need is still there. You believe He leads, but the road He has taken you down makes no sense. You believe He is with you, but there are moments when you feel completely alone.
Maybe the crisis has passed, but the fear stayed. Everyone around you is celebrating that you survived, while privately you are still asking God what to do with what that season did to you.
Getting through something and understanding it do not always happen at the same time.
And if we are not careful, disappointment can quietly change our expectations of God. We begin to believe He is able, but we stop expecting Him to be present. We remember what He has done, but struggle to trust Him with what comes next.
But before we talk about the signs that follow believers, we have to address the pain that sometimes makes believers afraid to believe.
“And these signs will follow those who believe...” — Mark 16:17 (NKJV)
The signs follow those who believe, not simply those who carry the label of Christian. But genuine belief does not mean life will always feel easy. You can belong to God and still walk through a valley. You can be marked by His presence and still have unanswered questions.
Being a believer does not mean every season feels like victory.
Psalm 23 gives us a picture of what it means to trust God when life does not feel victorious.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” — Psalm 23:1 (NKJV)
David begins by declaring who God is. He is the Shepherd who leads, restores, provides, and guides. But then David reaches the valley, and something changes.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me.” — Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)
Notice the shift. In the first part of the psalm, David talks about God. But when the valley shows up, he starts talking directly to God.
Sometimes the valley changes the conversation, but it does not change the Shepherd.
David does not say the valley is imaginary. He does not pretend there is nothing to fear. He declares that even there, God is with him.
Have you ever walked through a season that made you question what you believed about God? Have you ever come out of a crisis physically present but emotionally exhausted? Have you ever wondered why God did not bring you out sooner?
The valley is real. The grief is real. The disappointment is real. But your Shepherd is more real than your valley.
When we are hurting, it becomes easy to reach for anything that will numb the pain. Sometimes we withdraw. Sometimes we distract ourselves. Sometimes we begin to give up on things we once prayed for because disappointment has made hope feel dangerous.
But we cannot measure God's faithfulness only by how quickly our circumstances change. Sometimes He delivers us out of a situation. Other times, He delivers us through it.
You can be unsure about the process and still be sure about the Shepherd.
Shepherd confidence is knowing that your security does not rest in your own strength or understanding. It rests in the character of the One leading you.
A sheep does not have to know every turn in the path to be safe in the shepherd's care. In the same way, you do not have to understand everything God is doing before you decide to trust Him.
You do not wait until the middle of a test to decide whether God is trustworthy. You settle that in your heart beforehand.
Wherever He leads, whatever comes, you have already decided: I am going to trust Him.
That does not mean every situation is good. Divorce is not good. Abuse is not good. Addiction is not good. Pain is not good. But God remains good, even when the situation is not.
And what happened to you does not have to limit what God can do through you.
Look at Joseph. His brothers rejected him, threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and later he was falsely accused and imprisoned. Yet when he stood before the very brothers who tried to destroy him, he declared:
“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” — Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)
Joseph did not pretend the pit was pleasant or the prison was painless. He recognized that the intentions of others had not defeated the purpose of God.
What they meant for harm, God used for good.
Your pain may be part of your story, but it does not have to be the end of your story.
Maybe you are still trying to understand what happened to you. Maybe you are still grieving something you thought God would change. You do not have to pretend you are okay to prove that you have faith.
You can grieve and still trust. You can have questions and still believe. You can be brokenhearted and still be held by God.
And when you have fallen short, His mercy is still calling you back.
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22–23 (NKJV)
Mercy does not mean our choices have no consequences. It means failure does not make returning to God impossible. His mercy calls us out of hiding and makes restoration possible.
Some days, mercy looks like enough strength to face another morning. If you cannot make it day by day, make it hour by hour. If not hour by hour, then minute by minute. And if not minute by minute, then breath by breath.
His mercy will meet you there.
Now return to David's declaration:
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” — Psalm 23:6 (NKJV)
Notice the word surely. David is not guessing about God's character. He is declaring his confidence in it.
Goodness and mercy are not casually trailing behind you. The picture is one of pursuit. They are following you through every season, and your crisis has not hidden your location from God.
You may not see the goodness yet. You may still be walking through the valley. But you do not have to wait until you reach the other side to trust the Shepherd who is with you now.
You are not just walking through life hoping things turn out well. You are being followed by the goodness and mercy of God.
So keep moving. Keep trusting. If you cannot move day by day, move hour by hour. Take the next step, even if it is a small one.
Your worst moment does not have to write your final chapter. The Shepherd knows where He is taking you, and His goodness and mercy are following you all the days of your life.
And that includes today.
Live It Out Loud
• Turn On: Play ‘Psalm 23’ by Phil Wickham Featuring Tiffany Hudson to remind you of God's faithfulness as you finish reading this blog.
• Name Your Valley: Identify one difficult season or current situation where you have struggled to trust God. Be honest with Him about how it has affected you.
• Write Down What You Know: Write three truths about God's character that remain true regardless of your circumstances. Read them aloud every morning this week.
• Pray Psalm 23: Read Psalm 23 slowly and turn it into a personal prayer. Focus on the promise that your Shepherd is with you in the valley.
• Look for New Mercy: Each day, write down one way God has given you strength, comfort, provision, or grace. Do not overlook the small things.
• Take the Next Step: Choose one practical step toward healing, responsibility, or obedience. You do not have to figure out the entire road to keep moving forward.
• Declare Your Confidence: Speak this aloud each morning: “I may not understand the path, but I trust my Shepherd. His goodness and mercy are following me today.”
My Prayer
Holy Spirit, I come to You in the name of Jesus.
Thank You for being my Shepherd in every season, even the ones I do not understand. Forgive me for allowing disappointment and fear to change what I believe about Your goodness.
Help me trust You in the valley. Remind me that I can grieve and still believe, struggle and still trust, and have questions without walking away from Your presence.
Give me strength for the next step, grace for the difficult days, and faith to believe that my pain does not have the final word. Help me recognize Your mercy each morning and trust that You are still working even when I cannot see it.
Lord, I choose to trust the Shepherd more than I trust my understanding of the process. Let my life reflect that confidence, and remind me that goodness and mercy are following me all the days of my life.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
"May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you!" - Deuteronomy 1:11
Marked By His Presence,
PG
