A Good Shepherd

I'm sensing a need to write about this for someone.

What is your idea of a good shepherd? One who watches over his flock with the rod and the staff? One who leads his sheep in green pastures and by still waters? One who guards his sheep, that they may lie down in peace? I do too. So would any moral person, regardless of their spiritual views (moral being defined as one who tries to live a good life and do the right thing, follow their conscience, etc.). When Jesus is called the Good Shepherd, is that all he entails?

Here is a picture I want to share from a shepherd and his flock. Sheep, as most of us know, are stupid. There's no delicate way to put it. They are dumb, senseless creatures in need of a shepherd or they are going to die. They wander, they get lost, they get stuck, they cannot protect themselves. Sounds like me in a car without directions =)

In Jesus' day, sheep were no different than they are now. Stupid, senseless, needy creatures. However, they were smart enough to know their master's voice. When sheep wander, they typically become lost very quickly. Stubborn sheep will sometimes wander off because something caught their attention, or they smelled something "good". A good shepherd will leave the flock and go after the wayward sheep until he found it. When a sheep continually wanders off and become lost repeatedly, the shepherd does a very loving thing for the sheep. He finds the sheep, lost and sitting in one place, bleating for help. He gently takes the sheep and break its legs, one by one, so it can no longer walk. Then he gently lifts the sheep and carries it back to the flock. This shepherd then carries the sheep until its legs are healed. During that time, the good shepherd holds the sheep close, speaks gentle words over this sheep, and tenderly cares for it. When its legs are healed and the sheep can walk, it intimately knows its master's voice. It no longer wants to wander. This sheep knows and loves its master's voice.

When you find yourself in a place where you feel like your legs have been broken, the Master, the Good Shepherd is longing to re-introduce himself to you. He is longing to speak tender words straight to your heart. He is desperate for your attention. Part of you is not enough. He wants all of you. He knows that you have strayed from his voice, and the most loving thing he can do for you is to save you from the wilderness of living on your own knowledge and strength, and to teach you full and ultimate dependence on Him. When we walk on our own, or turn a direction because it "smells good", we have no idea of the dangers surrounding us. We don't even know where we are. Sometimes the most loving things God does for us are the most painful. If we just looked at God as one who breaks legs, we have an incomplete picture of him. We will see him as a God who enjoys inflicting pain. When we can get past the discomfort of living in pain and suffering, His righteous plan starts to be revealed to us, and we lose our perspective and, by God's grace, begin to ask for His. Do not waste the precious time you have with the Good Shepherd while your legs are healing! I love this: Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 says, "As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! ....he is in heaven, and you are only here on earth. So let your words be few."

Something God showed me today was a picture of a desert, and me standing on the edge of it. Something I desired SO greatly was waiting on the other side, but to cross that desert would mean death. It was hot. It was dusty. There was no water, and there was a great distance to cover. I could not do it, and I longed so strongly to cross it. I stood and waited for the LORD. Soon a storm rose from the east, and washed over the desert in front of me. Dark clouds rolled in, and lightning flashed from the clouds to the ground. Rain poured from the sky in a torrent, soaking the sand of the desert. After the storm was over, the desert was transformed into a lush garden. There was green foliage, trees, bushes, flowers, rivers of water flowing through the garden. The desert was now pass-able. I could take a step forward into an area that was previously desolate. It was amazing. It was beautiful.

"I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry."