Broken Legs...
I am reading the Bible tonight trying to put together something on my heart. As I do, I'm sitting here and I have so much emotion welling up in me. The question of, "Who is this Jesus" is something I have been feeling I'm to research and write some lessons on. As I'm diving into it, my heart is being torn in so many ways myself.
My first lesson in this series of lessons is that of the Shepherd. Jesus is our Shepherd. John 10:11-15 says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns 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. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep."
As I read this, I think about how many times in life I have turned to people. I have been scared, hurt, or even confused and needing direction. Instead of pushing into God, I turn to a friend, a mentor, a pastor, a relative or whoever... I think we can all say we have been there. In those moments though, many of us... ok... fess up... all of us... we can ALL say that when the rubber hit the road and life feels like an atomic bomb is blowing up on every side of you... the pieces are flying... the shrapnel is exploding around you... you look and that person OR people, as it may have been, are gone. Why? Because they're human. They're like the hired hand that this verse speaks of. They see the wolf coming and they're terrified. So they run like the dickens to avoid the shrapnel from the explosion that has just hit your life.
What is the wolf in life? Could be finances, health, work, school, relatives, friendships, a relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend or even fiancé! It could even be your marriage... I think we all know what that wolf is or has been in our lives. It's destructive and terrifying.
So, I got curious tonight as I thought of Jesus as my Shepherd. You know the reality is that sheep don't have much sense about them (neither do I so, I'm proud to own the sheep title here! haha!). When they get lost, do you know they lose all sense of direction? They freeze up! They don't know where they came from, where they are, or where they should go! So the Shepherd has to come after them time and time again. How many of us (yes... counting myself) are like that in our relationship with God? We get ourselves turned around and out of sorts! We start looking away from the Shepherd... we stop listening to his voice and we begin listening to the chaos around us and next thing you know... BAM... you are on your own in the middle of no one and you haven't an idea what happened!
I kept reading because I was intrigued... Here's the kicker! This is what gets me! The Shepherds LOVED their sheep passionately. When it came down to fighting a wolf to save their sheep's life or saving their own life... With out a second thought, they'd guard their sheep. Do you know what the shepherd would do to the sheep that he just couldn't get to listen and stop roaming off? Are you ready? He'd break their legs... not to cause them pain as a lesson, but so he could carry them upon his shoulders. Why? Because as that sheep lay there helpless and unable to walk, he'd grow close to his shepherd! He'd hear his voice! He'd know his voice and the tones and what they meant. He'd grow to love his shepherd and trust his shepherd. He'd grow to know that the shepherd was his safe place! To some, this may seem cruel, but if you think about the dangers of this sheep roaming off, the fact that this sheep would quickly die alone in the woods or wherever he wondered too... This shepherd was loving this sheep enough to break his legs so that he would learn to stay close and to stay away from danger!
The sheep who were close to the shepherd, they were the ones who would follow with out fear! They'd follow the shepherd into waters and they'd make it quickly across because they'd stay close to him. They were the ones that were the safest from danger. They were the ones that never got lost, never went hungry or thirsty, they were the ones who got to be close with him.
I think about my "wolves" in life. There's been many times lately with health, hard times in life (believe me... we've had them lately!) and I have sat here thinking "God why?" and I would wonder if I was alone and I'd wonder why no one else got what we were going through. But in reality, all those hard times, it was God... MY SHEPHERD... allowing my legs to be broken so he could carry me! HE could hold me close around his shoulders so I could hear his voice, so I could be close to him, so I'd understand his tone of voice, and so I 'd grow to not only know him deeply, but to love him deeply just as he loves me.
So, next time you feel like asking why... maybe step back and realize that he's simply allowing you to be broken so he can carry you until you're whole and have the deepest richest love relationship that you could possibly have...
My first lesson in this series of lessons is that of the Shepherd. Jesus is our Shepherd. John 10:11-15 says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns 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. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep."
As I read this, I think about how many times in life I have turned to people. I have been scared, hurt, or even confused and needing direction. Instead of pushing into God, I turn to a friend, a mentor, a pastor, a relative or whoever... I think we can all say we have been there. In those moments though, many of us... ok... fess up... all of us... we can ALL say that when the rubber hit the road and life feels like an atomic bomb is blowing up on every side of you... the pieces are flying... the shrapnel is exploding around you... you look and that person OR people, as it may have been, are gone. Why? Because they're human. They're like the hired hand that this verse speaks of. They see the wolf coming and they're terrified. So they run like the dickens to avoid the shrapnel from the explosion that has just hit your life.
What is the wolf in life? Could be finances, health, work, school, relatives, friendships, a relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend or even fiancé! It could even be your marriage... I think we all know what that wolf is or has been in our lives. It's destructive and terrifying.
So, I got curious tonight as I thought of Jesus as my Shepherd. You know the reality is that sheep don't have much sense about them (neither do I so, I'm proud to own the sheep title here! haha!). When they get lost, do you know they lose all sense of direction? They freeze up! They don't know where they came from, where they are, or where they should go! So the Shepherd has to come after them time and time again. How many of us (yes... counting myself) are like that in our relationship with God? We get ourselves turned around and out of sorts! We start looking away from the Shepherd... we stop listening to his voice and we begin listening to the chaos around us and next thing you know... BAM... you are on your own in the middle of no one and you haven't an idea what happened!
I kept reading because I was intrigued... Here's the kicker! This is what gets me! The Shepherds LOVED their sheep passionately. When it came down to fighting a wolf to save their sheep's life or saving their own life... With out a second thought, they'd guard their sheep. Do you know what the shepherd would do to the sheep that he just couldn't get to listen and stop roaming off? Are you ready? He'd break their legs... not to cause them pain as a lesson, but so he could carry them upon his shoulders. Why? Because as that sheep lay there helpless and unable to walk, he'd grow close to his shepherd! He'd hear his voice! He'd know his voice and the tones and what they meant. He'd grow to love his shepherd and trust his shepherd. He'd grow to know that the shepherd was his safe place! To some, this may seem cruel, but if you think about the dangers of this sheep roaming off, the fact that this sheep would quickly die alone in the woods or wherever he wondered too... This shepherd was loving this sheep enough to break his legs so that he would learn to stay close and to stay away from danger!
The sheep who were close to the shepherd, they were the ones who would follow with out fear! They'd follow the shepherd into waters and they'd make it quickly across because they'd stay close to him. They were the ones that were the safest from danger. They were the ones that never got lost, never went hungry or thirsty, they were the ones who got to be close with him.
I think about my "wolves" in life. There's been many times lately with health, hard times in life (believe me... we've had them lately!) and I have sat here thinking "God why?" and I would wonder if I was alone and I'd wonder why no one else got what we were going through. But in reality, all those hard times, it was God... MY SHEPHERD... allowing my legs to be broken so he could carry me! HE could hold me close around his shoulders so I could hear his voice, so I could be close to him, so I'd understand his tone of voice, and so I 'd grow to not only know him deeply, but to love him deeply just as he loves me.
So, next time you feel like asking why... maybe step back and realize that he's simply allowing you to be broken so he can carry you until you're whole and have the deepest richest love relationship that you could possibly have...
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