NEVER ABANDONED
John 10:11-13
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
I was scared! Lost and felt like I was left alone. Dad had sent me into the woods and had explained where to walk to meet him and my brothers on the other side of the cedar swamp. I thought I was following his directions just as He had explained... but I was turned around and ended up heading south and not east.
I was just 12 years old, but I felt like a 5, and completely abandoned. I wanted to cry out but knew better than to make that much noise in the woods. After about an hour I heard my dad's familiar whistle, beckoning me to him. I was never out of his reach... he was close all along.
Do you ever find yourself wondering where God has gone? I admit that sometimes I wonder if He really is beside me.
I put myself in a place where I cry out and all that comes back to me is my own echo. A place where I feel like I'm under constant attack and facing it all alone. My shield is pretty dinged up and scorched from fireballs coming at me..
A place where I feel . . . lost.
And so I remind myself of who Jesus is. He is the Good Shepherd. Not only does He lay down His life for His sheep, He would never abandon me when I'm under attack. This is no hired hand we're dealing with here.
I also learned from the above verse? I learned that it is the sheep that scatter. It is I who runs away, not my Savior. He is always there waiting to care for me.
So today when I cry out and hear my own voice echo back, I will also strain to hear the One who leaves the rest in order to find me and bring me safely home where I belong.
How about you? Are you within hearing of your shepherd?
Then Jesus told them this parable: in Luke 15:3-6
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep'".
WE ARE NEVER ABANDONED
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