What if victory isn’t what you think it is?

In this Christian encouragement message, we take a deeper look at Psalm 23 and uncover a powerful truth about healing from trauma, spiritual growth, and finding peace in pain. So often, we look for visible breakthroughs to define victory—but what if God is already working in ways we cannot see?

From green pastures to valleys to the table prepared before your enemies, this message reveals how God leads, restores, and transforms us through every season. If you’ve been feeling stuck, discouraged, or questioning what God is doing in your life, this will remind you that your breakthrough may already be in motion.

True transformation in Christ doesn’t always look the way we expect—but it is always happening for His glory.

If this message encouraged you, please share it with someone who needs it, and follow Born to be a Butterfly so you never miss a new episode.

📩 To connect or request prayer: ninapajonas@gmail.com

The Lord can turn your wounds into wings—you were Born to be a Butterfly! 🦋

Born to be a Butterfly © 2025 Nina Pajonas All rights reserved. The content of this podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. For the full disclaimer, visit ⁠ninapajonas.com.

Welcome to Born to be a Butterfly,

where we embrace healing and growth in Christ so that we can step into true transformation.

My name is Nina Pajonis, and I pray that today's message ministers to you.

The Lord gave me a revelation about Psalm 23 and he put it on my heart to share it with all of my sisters.

I have read and heard Psalm 23 so many times,

as I'm sure most of us have.

But the other day,

as I listened to it in my car through the Bible app,

I felt the Holy Spirit slow me down,

as if to say,

take notice.

Listen intently,

pay attention.

And when I did,

I realized something that I never had before.

Psalm 23 is not just a comforting passage.

It is a progression.

It is the picture of a journey with the Lord.

It is green pastures and valleys that finally lead to victory.

It is surrender,

rest,

trust,

endurance,

intimacy.

And then visible evidence of what God has been doing all along.

And what the Lord revealed to me was the victory was found long before the table was ever set.

Because true victory is not visible.

Think about it.

What looked like defeat at the cross was actually the greatest victory the world has ever known.

Jesus laid his life down.

It was not taken.

He laid it down at the Father's behest.

He laid it down to fulfill prophecy. He laid it down to atone for our sins.

And he did it all to save our souls in the kingdom that is victory.

But for three days, it did not look like victory.

It looked like defeat.

It looked and felt like a tremendous,

an inconceivable loss.

It looked like the enemy had won.

And yet behind the scenes, God was doing what only God can do.

That is how the kingdom life works.

Humans look at things at face value,

but God does not operate at face value value.

There are so many examples of this in Scripture,

and yet we still struggle to understand it.

And that is exactly why this Message matters.

Psalm 23 begins with,

the Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

David starts with the Lord.

He starts with surrender.

When he says, the Lord is my shepherd, he is saying,

the Lord is the one who guides me.

He is the one I follow.

And I'm going to be very clear about this.

The Lord is your shepherd,

not your pastor,

not your minister.

Yes, they may help oversee and shepherd in a temporal sense,

but at the end of the day,

the Lord is your shepherd.

Everybody else is temporary.

Everybody else is secondary.

Nobody outranks the Lord.

When David says,

the Lord is my shepherd, he is doing two things.

He is declaring his surrender and he is declaring God's sovereignty.

He is saying,

I am the sheep,

he is the shepherd.

My life is in the Lord's hands,

and that in itself is victory.

That is where it starts.

It starts when you stop just knowing him as Savior and you begin to know him as Lord.

Next,

David says,

I shall not want.

Yes,

I believe that means God will provide.

But I also believe that it means something deeper.

It means that if I do not have something,

either I do not need it or it is not good for me.

There are a lot of things that we consider to be needs that are actually desires,

and desires that are not aligned with the heart of God are not good for us.

So when the Lord withholds something, it is not always punishment.

Sometimes it is preparation,

at other times protection.

But either way,

it is always done from a place of great love.

Now I'm going to dive even a little deeper because I believe there is another layer here.

I also think David is saying,

I shall not want anything more than I want the Lord.

And that,

my sisters,

is a victory that we all should aspire to.

If we are not there already.

Then David goes on to say,

he maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He makes me lie down.

He doesn't ask.

He makes me.

Which means the Lord is leading me and I'm following.

It means I'm living in his will for my life and not my own.

He leads me beside still waters.

Still waters are quiet and calm.

And if you think about it, it's a lot easier to hear God's voice when we aren't moving and when the things around us aren't either.

There are seasons where the Lord will make you rest.

There are seasons of stillness where you will feel like nothing is moving.

During those times, you may feel stagnant or feel like you're stuck.

But if the Lord is the one who has led you there,

you are not stuck.

You are being restored.

David is talking about restoration.

He is talking about the Lord bringing him into peace.

He is talking about the Lord refreshing his soul.

And I'm learning more and more on this journey with Jesus that if my soul is not at peace,

everything else is off.

I'm not saying any of us live in perfect peace every second of every day.

But I am saying that when we start with peace in our souls,

everything else flows differently.

Now let's look at the next part of Psalm 23 where David says,

he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

David speaks of the Lord leading him into righteousness.

He acknowledges that it is God who places him on that path and that it is done for God's glory.

David does not credit himself with for being on the path of righteousness,

nor does he seek any glory that may come from walking it.

Instead,

he makes it clear that it is God who guides him not only to the path itself,

but also in shaping the character that he develops along the way.

It reminds us that righteousness is not something we achieve,

it is something we are led into.

Then Psalm 23 takes a turn.

David goes from green pastures to the next verse.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff,

they comfort me.

That turn is so shocking.

It's like,

whoa,

wait a second.

What happened?

I just went from green pastures to the valley.

But what David is telling us is, is this.

He is saying,

I do not find comfort in where I am.

I find comfort in who is with me.

That is the revelation.

David is saying, I do not find comfort in the circumstances.

I find comfort in God within the circumstances.

Even though I'm no longer in the green pastures,

I will not fear evil because you are with me.

The rod and the staff speak of protection, yes, but also of faithfulness.

David knows God is faithful.

He knows God is good.

He knows God will carry him through the valley.

So even there,

victory is found,

too.

Victory can be found in the green pastures or the valley,

because victory is not about vindication.

It is not about visibility.

Victory is about intimacy.

It is the peace that can only be found in surrender.

It is walking in faith when the world tells you to live in fear.

And that means the world may not recognize your victory as you walk through the valley.

Your enemies will not see it.

Other people may not understand it,

but that does not mean it's not there.

In fact,

the Lord revealed this to me as well.

Your enemies are the last to know that you've been walking in victory the whole time.

Now let's talk about Psalm 23, verse 5,

where David says,

thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.

Thou anointest my head with oil.

My cup runneth over.

That is the part people love to focus on.

But once again,

I am going to tell you what the Lord told me.

The table is not the victory,

and neither is what happens at it.

The table is merely evidence.

The victory already happened.

It happened when David declared, the Lord is my shepherd.

It happened in the green pastures where the Lord restored his soul and led David on a path of righteousness.

The victory continued in the valley when David chose not to fear because he knew what who was with him.

By the time the table was set,

the work had already been done.

We need to get this right.

We need to understand it, because too many of us are waiting for other people to see the proof of God in our lives before we call it victory.

And the Lord is saying no.

True victory is what happens when you lay down your will and live in His.

It is when you stay faithful in the valley and keep your peace in Christ.

It means choosing surrender over performance.

True victory is when you keep obeying God,

even when it looks like loss to the world.

And again,

the cross proves it,

because what looked like defeat was victory.

Jesus laying down his life,

giving it up willingly,

surrendering it in obedience,

in love,

and in fulfillment of the Father's will.

That is kingdom. Life and kingdom ways will always confound a world that only knows how to measure by what it can see.

But we walk by faith and not by sight.

We trust in what we don't see more than what we do see.

That is how we're called to live.

Another thing I noticed in Psalm 23 is that there are cycles,

there are different seasons.

Psalm 23 also shows us that our journey with the Lord is not one straight line.

There are cycles,

there are green pastures,

then valleys, then.

Then the table.

But then we have need for restoration again.

Then we go to another valley.

Then we will have more growth,

then more intimacy with Christ,

and then more evidence of his faithfulness.

There is a time for everything.

There is a season for everything.

And it's not about the season.

It's about how we walk with the Lord through every season.

That's what it's about.

If we do not respect and honor every season for what it is,

we will miss what God is doing in it.

If we are only focused on getting out of the valley,

we may miss the comfort of Christ there.

If we are focused only on the table,

we may miss the surrender that is required for victory.

If we are focused only on appearances,

we may miss eternity.

David was not a perfect man.

He made mistakes.

But he had such a heart for the Lord.

And that is what I pray for all of us.

I pray that we would hunger and thirst for the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our hearts,

souls,

minds and strength.

That everything we do would be for the glory of God.

That even the hardest seasons would become testimonies of his goodness,

his mercy,

his forgiveness,

his sovereignty,

and his love,

because every season can glorify the Lord,

but it can only do that if we keep our eyes fixed on Him.

Sister,

please hear me when I say this.

The ultimate victory is not external.

It is eternal.

And that is why true victory is not always visible.

It is an inward and eternal reality before it is ever an outward one.

The table may come,

vindication may come,

visible evidence may come.

But whether it comes in this life or not,

the true victory remains the same.

We are his,

he is ours.

The Lord is our shepherd.

Now I will read the last line of Psalm 23.

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

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

That,

my sister,

is the ultimate victory.

And David describes it perfectly.

And now I'm going to ask you a couple of questions.

Where in your life are you still trying to to measure victory by what can be seen rather than recognizing the inward victory God is already building through your surrender?

Number two what might God be asking you to surrender right now that looks like loss to the world,

but is actually obedience and victory in his kingdom?

Let's pray.

Father God,

thank you for reminding us that your kingdom does not operate the way this world does.

Thank you that what looks like loss to the world is often obedience in your eyes.

Thank you that the cross which appeared to be defeat was actually the greatest victory the world has ever known.

Lord,

we confess that we are so tempted to measure victory by what we can see or by what others notice,

but yout are teaching us that true victory begins in surrender.

Teach us to lay down our will just as Jesus laid down his life.

Make our hearts earnest before you.

We trust you Lord.

We surrender to you and we thank you that our victory is found in Christ alone.

In the mighty and matchless name of Jesus,

we pray.

Amen.

If today's message blessed you and you believe it could bless someone else,

please share it and don't forget to follow Born to be a Butterfly so you never miss an episode.

If you would like me to pray for you,

or if you would like to connect, you can reach out to me on Facebook or Instagram at Born to be a Butterfly or you can email me@ninapajonesmail.com the link is in my episode description until next time.

Remember,

healing is holy.

Transformation is possible.

The Lord can turn your wounds into wings.

You were born to be a butterfly.