14 I am the Good Shepherd; and I know and recognize
My own, and My own know and recognize Me—
15 Even as [truly as] the Father
knows Me and I also know the Father—and I am giving My [very own] life and laying
it down on behalf of the sheep.
16 And I have other sheep [beside
these] that are not of this fold. I must bring and [c]impel those also; and they will listen to My
voice and heed My call, and so there will be [they will
become] one flock under one Shepherd.
17 For this [reason] the Father loves
Me, because I lay down My [own] life—to take it back again.
18 No one takes it away from Me. On
the contrary, I lay it down voluntarily. [I put it from Myself.] I am
authorized and have power to lay it down (to resign it) and I
am authorized and have power to take it back again. These are the
instructions (orders) which I have received [as My charge] from My Father.:11-
-John 10:11-18 (AMP)
As I
had tea with the Lord this morning, we discussed the plight of a good friend of
mine who is going through a very difficult season. Because I have been through what she is going
through, I understand the pitfalls that await us as God sets order in our
lives. I remembered my own wrestling
season with the Lord, and asked why these seasons of change have to be so difficult
for us to get through. Even as I talked,
began to see a picture in my mind, and a John 10 scripture passage came to my remembrance.
I saw a picture of a sheep that was
entangled in briers and sticker bushes.
The sheep was bleating and struggling in the patch trying to untangle
himself. Instead of the sheep finding freedom, his struggling was making the
situation worse. Then I saw a man come
to the sheep and kneel down beside it. He began to comfort the sheep and pet
him in order to calm him. Then he gently
held the sheep, and calmly began to pick the thorns and sharp twigs out of the
sheep one by one. The sheep continued to
struggle because the shepherd’s ministrations were painful, but the shepherd held him firmly and continued the process. After some time, the shepherd gently lifted
the sheep out of the patch and tended to the sheep’s wounds.
The
Lord said to me: “Child, I am the Good
Shepherd. I see the predicaments that my sheep get into, and I know how come
and untangle them from the places that they fall into. If my Sheep will let me, I will untangle them
from their broken places and move them into a safe place. It is then; and only then that I can truly
attend to their wounds and heal them.
Being untangled is more difficult for my sheep than the healing, because
they fight against their “brier patches” so long, that they are tired, and when
I come to help them, they fight Me because the untangling process is long, painful, and tedious. However, My sheep know Me, and they recognize
My gentle voice, and My touch and they need
to know that I will never become impatient and be unnecessarily harsh, nor will
I abandon them regardless of their situation.
I am faithful (can be trusted) to take them through the process, then I will heal them from their wounds.
That
really blessed me, and brought me some healing for some of the areas that I am
wrestling through. I am a little slow, but I finally get it when Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6:
"Being confident of this, that he who began a
good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus". The idea that I "arrive" and my process ends is not really the truth. I do heal, and I do grow, but if I am truly HIS sheep, I will keep healing and keep growing until the day that I am finally reunited with Christ. That neutralizes the enemy's attack on my mind that keeps me locked in my expectations that I should be in a certain place at a certain time. It also neutralizes any tendency on my part to compare my journey with anyone else's. Wherever I am, is where God expects me to be, whether I am in the brier, in the healing place, or if I am walking by the still waters and chewing sweet grass. He is with Me, and that is enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment