The Good Shepherd

The year yawns to a close, and another stretches into being.  Out on a quiet hillside, un-harried by galas and parties, undistracted by lists of resolutions infused with the best of intentions, stands a solitary figure.  The Shepherd.  He is doing what He always does as though time has not moved at all – as if He has all the time in eternity – He tends His sheep.

There is confidence in the way He handles His rod and His staff that makes one feel safe just to gaze upon Him.  Soft compassion glints in the milk-white purity of His eyes.  He has no need to prove His love or loyalties for He has already paid the ultimate price for the sheep of His flock.  What’s more, He will lose none of them when He stands before His Father one day.  He knows each ram, each ewe and lamb by name and has individual dreams for them.  Visions and plans that reach across the time barrier of what we know into all the eternal that we don’t know… thoughts to bring them to a beautiful place of peace and hope, a fulfilling expected end that is not chained to time (Jer. 29:11).

He intends to take them to the High Places.  A region where they can drink in the pure air of obedience and be healed along the still waters and nourished by the rich grasslands.  They will be well there, their very souls will be restored because of all He purchased for them on an old rugged cross.  He has born their griefs, carried their sorrows, endured their shame, suffered for their sin – there is nothing that stands between Him and them now (Isaiah 53:4-6).

But there is quite the journey between here and there.  The Good Shepherd knows every stretch of it intimately – for He has already traversed every nook and crevice.  He always goes ahead, marking the places of danger, removing noxious plants that would be poisonous, looking for signs of predators, and mapping out places of refreshment.  He has anticipated the needs, the dangers; He has hand-picked the best path and has made every provision necessary to get them safely there.

He knows how they will chafe at the rocky passages – how terrified they will be if a sudden storm sweeps down on them from the mountains.  He knows how they will spook in the valley, and it will be difficult to get them to rest in its dark shadows.

But He goes with them.  There is not one uncomfortable place, one difficult or painful thing that He will ask of them, that He will not also submit Himself to in order to get them safely through the other side.  He will be their Sun when the gloom presses in, their Shield and Defense against any predator, their Comfort and Pavilion in the storm, their Healing Balm in pain and sickness.  There is nothing that He and His Father will not do to bring them safely home.

He looks fondly upon His flock, knowing which ones will struggle most at different points in the journey.  “Oh, ye of little faith…” the wind carries His gentle whisper.  Why do they ever fear?  Why do they ever fight or struggle so – for it is not their responsibility to ensure their safe and successful passage – but His.  It is not their duty to bring His Father’s will to pass.  All they need to do is follow, to stay near and dear to His heart.  To listen for His voice in obedience and anticipate His goodness and mercy all the days of their life.

This is where I want to be.  I am weary and tired of questions with no answers, overwhelming circumstances with no clear way out.  It is not my job to ensure my safe arrival or provide for my needs.  I simply want to rest in His bosom and live each day as an overflow of sweet worship, delighting in His presence and doing His will today – leaving tomorrow with Him.  And when pain and distress push in I want to lean back into the blessed truth that I have nothing to fear, my Shepherd is with me and has only taken me this way because it is the best way to reach the High Places.  “…for I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (II Tim. 1:12)  I have not fallen out from under His loving eyes – I am not out of reach of His daily mercy and lovingkindness.  I am safe, I am whole in Him, and I have everything I need to do His will today.

So here is a cheer to a new year, a different kind of year – a year of absolute abandon and wild surrender – a year of worship and rest.