Followed By Mercy
The Followed By Mercy Podcast
Real Grace, Honest Hope
You might notice a new name and a fresh look, but the heart behind this podcast is the same. After years as the World Evangelism Podcast, I sensed God leading me to a deeper, more personal path centered on His relentless mercy and the kind of honest hope that can reach into every hurting place. That’s why this show is now called Followed By Mercy Podcast. The format may shift, and the tone may be a bit more personal, but my mission hasn’t changed: I still believe the world desperately needs to hear the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ. You are welcome here if you’ve been with me from the beginning or just found us now.
What if God’s love is more personal, stubborn, and relentless than you ever imagined?
Welcome to The Followed By Mercy Podcast, where we get honest about pain, hope, and the kind of grace that finds you right where you are, five days a week. This isn’t about religious performance or church routines. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt worn out, unseen, or unsure if they belong in the story of God’s love. Every conversation is rooted in this reality: God loves you right now, just as you are, and He isn’t giving up on you.
Here’s what you’ll find in every episode:
Experience God’s Relentless Love
Every show starts by reminding you that the Shepherd knows your name, cares about your story, and isn’t offended by your failures or questions. This is personal—it’s about God’s unwavering affection for you.
Find Your Place in His Heart
Once you grasp how fiercely you’re loved, sharing that love with others doesn’t feel forced. It becomes the most natural thing in the world. Real grace overflows.
Prayer That Changes You
We pray together—not just for the world “out there,” but for the battles and hopes you’re carrying right now. These prayers are honest, rooted in Scripture, and meant for hearts that need a gentle touch from the Shepherd.
Discover Your Unique Role
Whether you’re called to go, give, serve, or show kindness in your corner of the world, God’s mercy meets you where you are. You’re not just a bystander. You are His beloved, invited into the story He’s writing.
When life knocks the wind out of you, this is a place to catch your breath. You’ll hear the encouragement that meets you on your hardest days, and your honest questions will be welcomed. No pretending, no heavy-handed advice—just the reminder that your Shepherd is right there with you, walking every step with you, even when you feel like giving up.
Why does this matter? Because some days, it feels like nobody sees you or cares what you’re going through. But the truth is, you have a Shepherd who never takes His eyes off you, lets you slip through the cracks, and never gives up on you. That kind of love can put you back on your feet, and it might be the hope someone else is waiting to see in you, too.
If you’re longing for more than just religious talk—if you want to know you’re not alone and that God’s mercy is following you all the way home, you’re in the right place. Whether you listen in the car, on a walk, or in a quiet moment, let every episode remind you: God’s mercy is after you right now, ready to bring real grace and honest hope.
Subscribe today and join a community to discover what happens when loved people become loving people. The journey’s just beginning, and there’s a place for you here.
Followed By Mercy
Green Pastures in Chaos
Green Pastures in a Barren Land
A raw and honest look at Psalm 23:2 — “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.”
What do green pastures mean when your whole world is falling apart?
David didn’t write Psalm 23 from a cozy, peaceful palace. He likely penned these words while on the run—betrayed, hunted, and heartbroken. His own son was leading a rebellion against him. And in the middle of that heartbreak, David says something that stops us in our tracks: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.”
That’s not a poetic ideal. That’s a spiritual miracle.
In this episode, we unpack what it means to lie down in the middle of chaos, not because we’re forced to, but because we’ve been so deeply filled and abundantly cared for that rest becomes the natural response. Like the fullness after a holiday feast, God’s provision satisfies us so completely that striving becomes unnecessary.
But these pastures weren’t just physical. They were spiritual symbols of God’s goodness in the most unlikely places.
To fully appreciate the imagery, we have to understand the land. David lived in a harsh, semi-arid wilderness where rain was scarce and greenery didn’t grow by accident. Green pastures required intentional work. The shepherd had to understand the terrain, rotate fields, wait for rare rainfall, and cultivate growth over time. That’s how God works with us, quietly and faithfully, preparing what we need before we even know we’ll need it.
Most of us live with a low-grade panic, always wondering if we’re enough or we’ll have enough. But sheep don’t strive. Sheep don’t earn rest. They don’t have to prove they’re worthy. They just follow the shepherd and receive what He provides.
This is the upside-down truth of grace: God doesn’t wait until we get our act together. He meets us where we are, in dry places, in failure, in fear, and says, “Here is rest for your soul.“
In this meditation on Psalm 23:2, you’ll discover:
- How David shifted his gaze from the rebellion around him to the Shepherd beside him
- Why green pastures are a miracle of grace, not a reward for good behavior
- How God is preparing tomorrow’s provision while you’re still worrying about today
- What it really means to lie down—not collapse from exhaustion, but rest in satisfaction
- Why your focus—on the Shepherd or the storm—determines your peace
- How gratitude anchors you in what you have instead of what you fear you’re missing
- Why looking back at God’s faithfulness fuels courage for the road ahead
This episode isn’t about pretending life is easy. It’s about learning to rest in the goodness of God when everything around you says panic. It’s about letting the Shepherd lead, even when the path doesn’t make sense. And it’s about remembering that He has been faithful until today. Today is no different.
Take a deep breath. Your Shepherd knows the terrain. He’s already ahead of you. And there’s green pasture—even here.
Listen now and be reminded: You don’t have to earn rest. You only have to receive it.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
we've come to makes me lie down in green pastures. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he maketh me lie down in green pastures. I very much love the teaching and the truth that's taught in this passage of Scripture. He, the shepherd I am. Yahweh, the God who has made a covenant with me, the God who leads me, the God who knows what I need, makes me lie down in green pastures. There's a lot of things to look at here. I think the first thing is I want you to notice how personal it is. He me, he me, he God, me, the sheep, he God, not the flock, not the church, not everybody but me. And he said I am, says I am taking care of you. He is in a personal relationship with you so that you will be who you ought to be. He is taking care of me in a relationship that benefits me. That's what's going on here Now.
Austin Gardner:Remember David's under attack, probably from Absalom, and if anything, right now he's not thinking about eating and lying down in green pastures, but the shepherd's taking care of him. And so now his focus has shifted from his situation to his shepherd, from the crisis to the christ, and he's now looking and saying I'm being taken care of, and he said I don't lack anything. But not only do I not lack anything, I have more than I need. I have so much that I eat till I'm full and I just lay down, though there's plenty to eat. It's like being at the Thanksgiving meal. You know how it is, you eat to the point you just got to lay down. It's like I've had enough. And God's taking that good of care of David in the middle of the storm, in the middle of the chaos, storm in the middle of the chaos. David felt like God personally cared about him. That's what I'm to feel. I'm to understand that the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pasture, but then I don't want you to notice.
Austin Gardner:It says pastures. He has more than one. He has more than I need. He has more than I need. He has more than I can see. He is doing things that are beyond my comprehension.
Austin Gardner:That took a lot of work on the part of the shepherd. Back in David's day, david lived in an area that probably only got about 28 inches of rain a year, and I live in a place where it gets over 50. And David very likely often worked in an area that only got five inches of rain, so he had to know where the pastures were. He had to take care of the pastures. He had to be ready to provide for the sheep he had to be developing. And God's doing all of that for us.
Austin Gardner:We don't see it, we don't understand it because we're sheep. We don't know that right over the hill he's got a pasture for us. We don't know that he has more than one pasture. We don't realize that he is doing great for us. We fill up quickly. We eat all we can eat and lay down. It's beautiful.
Austin Gardner:The shepherd's rotating the crops to take care of us. He's moving us from pasture to pasture, but he's always taking care of us. He provides for us. I love. He makes us to lie down. In other words, he doesn't force you to lie down, but he just gives you so much. You're like, wow, I have eaten till I am full. I can't eat more and I know there's plenty to eat. I'd like to eat but I can't. I can't take another piece of pecan pie. I just can't eat another piece.
Austin Gardner:Right now the war rages all around him. David's in trouble, but in the middle of that trouble David, instead of having a spirit of fear, he has the power a spirit of power, a strong mind, and he trusts God and he focuses on how rich he is and how powerful God is working in his life. Can I say that we're so man-focused that we think it's about me or the preacher. We think I've got to look for food. We think the pastor ought to be providing me good messages. We look at ourselves and we look at others. When God's calling on you, look at the shepherd. David is looking at the shepherd I am is my shepherd. I am, makes sure I do not lack or want I am, makes me lie down in green pastures. You see, all the focus and all the praise has to go to the Father. He's the one that's doing everything. So I just want to challenge you to be careful. You are so conscious of focusing. I lived my life thinking I had to measure up and God wasn't taking care of me. And if I just do right, god would do this.
Austin Gardner:And that's really not what the Psalms totally twisted from that, or we've twisted it here. It's the shepherd taking care of the sheep. It's not the sheep trying to prove the shepherd ought to take care of him. It's not the sheep going. I beg you and I pray to you, please give me enough to eat. It's the shepherd saying I'm good to you. Do you understand?
Austin Gardner:There's a major difference here. You scurry about and you're anxious and you're worried and you're concerned and you're fussing and you're fighting and you're striving. And he said come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. We are are called to rest in a person who takes care of us. I've worried too long. He said remember, take no thought, don't you worry about it. I know you have need of it. And then he says it's just so beautiful.
Austin Gardner:The Lord is my shepherd. I know Absalom's going to kill me. I know I don't have enough army. I know I can't win this battle, but here's what I know. More than that, I know the Lord is my shepherd. I do not have anything I need that he's not providing and more than that he abundantly provides.
Austin Gardner:To the point I want to lay down and say Good night, you have given me more than enough. That's what God's doing in your life right now. God is working in your life. So where are you right now? Would you stop and take a few minutes to say let me count my many blessings. Let me think about how good God's been to me. I want you to call out gratitude, an attitude of gratitude that says where has God fed me? How has he met my needs? Look back over the last part of your life. I know you're in a crisis right now, but see if you'll get your focus off of you and get your focus on the Lord, you'll have victory. If you will quit thinking about what you lack and see what you have, you'll feel better. If you'll be grateful for what God's done instead of griping about what you think you ought to do, it'll make a difference.
Austin Gardner:He makes me lie down in green pastures. I know you're in trouble. I know things are going wrong. I know you may have cancer. I know you may be dealing with stuff. I know and I could focus on the cancer and I could focus on our tumors growing or the nut growing, or I can focus on the Lord's taking care of me. You know he has been so good to me all these years and he just keeps on being good. I got to choose where I'll focus. He makes me lie down in green pastures. I ask you to take today and think about how good God's been. I ask you to look around and see the pastures you're eating in. I ask you to take today and think about how good God's been. I ask you to look around and see the pastors you're reading in. I ask you to look at. I know you're worried about tomorrow, but till today he's been good Till today, and that's where you live today.