However, I became very ill the first day of the conference. I was so sick that I had to be hospitalized before the first session even began. I passed out as I was being transferred from the car to the emergency room. I awoke around midnight that first night. My physical condition began improving, but spiritually I was a broken man. I had come all the way to India to minister to these leaders, and now I found myself in the hospital and unable to minister to anyone. Doubts filled my heart. I began to question myself and question God. "Did I make a mistake?" I wondered. But an even deeper question filled my heart, "God, where are you?"

I explained my situation to the head nurse early the next morning. Even though I was still very ill, I felt that I ought to go to the conference and speak. I didn't want to come all the way to India without attempting to do what I felt God had led me to do. The hospital agreed to allow me to go to the conference on a scaled back speaking schedule. They took me off the I.V. and put me in a taxi and sent me to the first session of the conference. I was so weak that I had to sit down and speak. I had very little strength and was unable to project my voice.

My heart was weary. I began to wonder if I had missed God's leading in my life. Yet, God gave me the strength to speak each day. By the end of the conference, scores of pastors had encountered God. Many of them were revived in their lives and ministries. I knew that God had worked deeply in that meeting, but I must be honest with you. I really doubted God's leadership as I returned home. "Had I made a mistake?" I asked myself.

But there was a promise that God continued to burn into my heart and mind. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want (Psalms 23:1 NIV). As I meditated on who God is, I realized that He is the Great Shepherd and the Good Shepherd. He leads His children. Even when we go through a storm, or things don't make sense, He's still the Good Shepherd. He will always lead us to the good place - the safe place. He'll surely bring us to the green pastures. We may have to cross a dangerous terrain to get there, but we can know that He will lead us there safely.

Seven years later, I returned to India and again ministered in the state of Andhra Pradesh. This time I went there to preach an evangelistic meeting. I met scores of pastors whose lives had been changed during the conference seven years earlier. Because of the earlier ministry, I had gained the respect of pastors throughout the state. That resulted in great unity in the churches and laid a foundation for a major unified evangelistic outreach in which thousands of people came to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

As I reflected back on the time when I became so ill, I saw the hand of the Good Shepherd. When I was on the dangerous path of illness, it was difficult to discern. It was hard to say, "He leads me besides the still waters…" But years later, I could quietly and confidently say, "It was good. God's leadership was very, very good.

King David went through many tough times. But when it was all over, he had come to know God in a new way. He'd come to know Him as "Jehovah Rohi" - God our Shepherd. He said from experience, The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want (Psalms 23:1 NIV).

Your heart may be filled with doubt. You may wonder why certain things are happening to you. You love the Lord. Yet, it seems like you're on a very dangerous path. Be still. He is Jehovah Rohi. He is God, our Shepherd. He will lead you into those green pastures. And He will lead you through the dangerous path. Trust the One who is the Great Shepherd.