“He leads His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.” Isaiah 40:11
God took me on an interesting journey one day. He asked me to follow Him, watch, listen, and learn. And so I followed down a long, winding grassy path. I never said a word. I just silently observed all He had to teach me that day. First He took me to a path along a rocky crag. There was little grass. The wind was howling. It was a bit desolate and isolated. But in the distance, I heard a faint whimpering sound. As I came around the bend, I saw the pathetic creature. Curled up, shaking from the cold. Her filthy, mud-stained body was thin and full of mites and other annoying parasites. There was no one around her. No one to feed her, care for her, hold her or protect her. Surely she would fall prey to the next predator that climbed the rocky cliff. Perhaps this would be a mixed blessing for this lonely, sickly, vulnerable, pathetic little lamb. As I watched her, my heart ached for some kind shepherd to come and rescue her from this pit of despair and darkness. I wanted to help her, but Jesus signaled me to continue on with Him. My heart wrenched in compassion for this little creature as I heard her crying out in lonely desperation.
As we continued up the path, I heard a much more pleasant sound from a distant lamb. There she was ahead of me, frolicking and leaping from rock to rock. She seemed well fed, carefully groomed, and completely content. There were other sheep around, but I couldn’t help fixing my eyes on this one particular lamb. She was running all around her Shepherd as if dancing for Him and bringing Him delight. Playfully He watched and laughed and occasionally reached down with a gentle pat of approval. The love between them was touching. This lamb felt so confident and secure. But as the Shepherd and the lamb were walking, she suddenly became distracted by a particular clump of grass that lay at the bottom of a small pit in the ground. The Shepherd quickly warned the lamb to step back from the edge. He held out some fresh, tender shoots of grass to the lamb to lure her way. But her curiosity was great. She ignored her Master’s warnings and suddenly tumbled down the bank into the pit. In writhing pain, she cried out and lay stunned at the bottom. With her leg bleeding and throbbing, she tried to walk and climb out of the crevice. It was useless. Her leg was too severely wounded and the pain was excruciating...
// continue this journey with us throughout the week //
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