For Christian Allies

Shame driven questions give a spiritual sting that drives believers further away from God’s flock. Notice how this barrage of questions make the sheep feel ashamed and isolated in their harassment: Why did you let the storm with all its pounding rain and deafening lightning scare you? There was no need to run away. Why did you let that dangerous predator scare you? There was no need to fawn or freeze. Why did you try to control it yourself? You should have reported it regardless of your circumstances. Didn’t you know our Shepherd is strong enough to protect us? You should have fought back. Didn’t you know that our Shepherd is good, powerful, and just? You did not have enough faith.  

Most of us recognize that we wouldn’t force these statements on God’s flock because we know we are ourselves have gone astray. We all have forgotten, dismissed, or ignored God’s commands. We have all denied that God is who he says he is. When we pause to reflect,  we discover we really are not that different from each other. We all avoid surrender to God. We hold onto our careers, family, friends, dreams, finances, and reputation thinking we know how to manage our lives. Then when it falls apart, we often run to some sort of negative coping mechanisms to numb our pain. Rather than turn to God we overeat, overshop, overwork, oversleep, overwatch, or overthink. We mask our pain and attempt to manage our grief ourselves. Even in our pain, we fight God for control.

Recognizing we are all as sinners who struggle with the same issue, meanwhile, unites us in love and a common purpose. We fight the same demon: fear. We fear God may not be who He says he is. We fear we are not enough.  We fear he does not love us or is not powerful enough to redeem the brokenness in our lives.  We fear he does not hear us or care about our the trivial aspects of our lives.  Understanding our own frailty helps us tenderly embrace each of God’s sheep in whatever station they find themselves. Every sheep in God’s flock is broken and in need of restoration. Every sheep has, at one point, lost its way from the Shepherd. Be the sheep that tenderly guides God’s flock back home to its relentless, compassionate, faithful Shepherd.

Verses to Meditate on:  Psalm 51:16-17; Isaiah 66:2; James 4:6-10; 1 John 1:7-10; Galatians 5:22-24; Philippines 2:1-3; Titus 3:3-8; Romans 15:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:21-26; and Ephesians 4:2-6