John 10:11 & 27-30 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives
His life for the sheep. My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is
able to snatch them out of My
Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”
A good friend and
brother of mine, Danny, who was a member in the church team that I was on, that flew to New
Orleans to help in the clean-up rebuild efforts after Hurricane Katrina,
sent me an e-mail story about a fictitious dialog between someone & God that had a message
that first enlightened me to a truth that I had previously not thought about,
until I saw the Bible Study video by Bruce Wilkinson on the “Prayer of Jabez”. The
dialog, sent by Danny, was a long list of things that didn’t go as planned in
the mind of the complainer, but God had a reason for each. The end of the
conversation goes:
God: Don't be sorry, just learn to
trust me.....in all things, the good and the bad.
Me: I will
trust you.
God: And don't doubt that my plan
for your day is always better than your plan.
Me: I won't God. And let me just
tell you God, thank you for everything today.
God: You're welcome child. It was
just another day being your God, and I love looking after my children.
The point of this story
and Wilkinson’s also, is that we see what happens daily in life, but we do not
see everything … we do not see the whole picture. God’s care and provision in
our lives includes the harmful situations that the Lord does not allow to even
reach us, even when they cause our plans to not go exactly as we wish them to.
But in the final analysis, with the whole picture being seen, God’s purposes
and actions in our lives is always the best. Whether it’s in the storms of life
or on the “fair weather” days, good or bad, we need to trust God and be
grateful for His loving hand in our life. As the sheep do not see or understand
all the care and protection that the good shepherd provides, we do not see or
understand all that the Lord is doing “behind the scene” for us either. God
tends to His Flock … our Heavenly Father takes care of His children.
Psalm 108:1-6 “O God, my heart is
steadfast; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your mercy is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth; That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear me.”
Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your mercy is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth; That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear me.”
In Christ, Brian
7 comments:
Oh, I like your blog!
Blessings form,
angel-blessy
Hi Brian,
I totally agree with Angel-Blessy, I like your blog! :)
I have heard about this dialogue with God and have even tried it myself. I usually get references to Bible verses. I don't know if this is actually God speaking to me or just me. Either way it is encouraging and I do believe that I don't ever want to block out God's voice be it Him or just His nudging me.
I have an uncle with lung cancer and leukaemia. He just recently, this past Wednesday, decided to head into Mexico for treatment because the doctors here have given him no hope. Well, this morning I got a call from his daughter telling me he went into the hospital last night with pneumonia. The first thing that came to my mind was God was stopping this decision of his to go to Mexico because something worse would have happened. The whole family is sort of disappointed and I am praying for the right time to tell them my thoughts.
I believe God does allow bad things to happen to us in order to prevent something even worse.
Thanks for sharing,
<><
The ridiculous image of a sheep pretending to be the shepherd just popped into my head. That's what happens sometimes when you try to look at the big picture.
Angel-Blessy, Thank you for your encouraging words about this Blog. I am happy that you were blessed by it. Praise the Lord that His Word is touching hearts and lives. Glad that you stopped by and commented.
Child of God, This side of heaven, we are in the physical and material world, so these dialogs with our Heavenly father are natural in our limited vision. Prayer is vital. I've learned to not worry too much about is God speaking to me ... He is, and you also. When ideas and words come, write them down because the Holy Spirit is bring godly things to mind. Journaling is good for this also. Don't miss the moment.
My prayers are with you, your Uncle and the family as cancer has created an emotional and physical battle there. I hear what you are saying and ask the Lord's hand and Will be dome there.
We are surely all enrolled in the School of Hard Knocks" in life as we experience, learn, grow and mature as Children of God. We are not in Heaven now for a reason, and that is this school of life, to help others physically and spiritually, God's work for God's purposes and to enjoy the journey. Thanks for the great comments.
Pewster, Give a sheep an inch and they want be a Ruler. But serious, we do need to be watchful and mindful, to live below the surface level of life and try to see a bigger picture in order to experience a deeper relationship with our Lord and those around us, living out the abundant life that Jesus brings. Those who want to be the shepherd of their own life may very well not be a sheep at all. MAy the Good Shepherd that laid down His life for His sheep be the Lord of all. Only He has the whole picture. Thanks for the thought-provoking comment.
One last thought on this "sheep" metaphor from the 10th chapter of the gospel of John. We are created by our Creator God to be His flock that He loves and cares for personally. We are not our own flock and we do not belong to anyone else. And most definitely, God is not part of our flock; He is the Shepherd and we belong to him alone. We can take comfort in that.
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
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