Good Morning, Afternoon or Evening Everyone,
I pray you have had a peaceful night of rest and that this day is blessed with grace, goodness and peace. I haven't slept much this week. I'm not sure if it is the excess caffeine or if I've allowed the enemy of stress into my mind or if my sore muscles from climbing a ladder for many days in a row have been the culprit (likely all three) but I definitely haven't gotten my 6 to 8 hours per night this week as recommended by "they" - whoever "they" are.
Earlier this week I wrote about thorns and the hedge of thorns that God places around our lives. I wrote about the correlation of those thorns to the painful things of our lives and related them to Jesus' crown of thorns. Something that hit me this morning was that sheep are prone to stray. God references His children to sheep quite often in His Word and knowing that sheep aren't the brightest creatures of God's creation should keep us ever mindful that being affectionately called sheep by our Creator isn't a compliment. They have brains the size of walnuts, they can't figure out how to get up if they fall on their backs, they have no sense of direction and...they are prone to stray.
Could it be that because of our sheepish nature, we NEED a hedge of thorns? Could it be that the "ouches" of our lives come because we run into that hedge and get stuck and hurt because of our need to stray?
I've been helping a dear friend get her house ready to go on the real estate market and she has the sweetest little dog. My friend works as a teacher and has left her sweet dog, Molly, with me during the day as I've been working at her house. For the last couple of weeks, Molly has been so polite and has waited at the door to get her little leash on to go out to get her business done. But this past Tuesday, Molly had a need to stray. She bolted out the door and acted as if she was going to be well-behaved and walked with me into the garage all the while having a plan of her own as soon as she could break away. She decided that when we left the garage she would walk over to the grassy part and sniff around a little bit. Then she walked slowly but just ahead of me where I couldn't catch her and then all of a sudden she took off to the woods. She was on a grand adventure! I called her and she wouldn't come. I offered treats and rewards of good behavior if she would heed my voice. But she acted as though she was completely deaf. All of a sudden I heard her cries. She was crying as if in great pain - it got louder and louder and all I could imagine was that she had walked up on a copper head snake and he had sunk his fangs into her and filled her with deadly venom. I called her name over and over running to the woods. Suddenly I heard another dog bark and then a human voice saying, "I've got her! She's ok! She's just a little bit scared!" My heart started beating again. I walked to where I could see and there was my friend's neighbor holding Molly in his arms. His big chocolate lab was standing there with him and across the fence was his guard dog, a German shepherd. He saw all that had happened and said that Molly had crossed the fence line and the shepherd stopped her and rolled her a little but didn't hurt her. Molly was trembling and looked to me with great relief. I put her leash on and we peacefully walked back to the house after an exchange of thank you's and my heart started beating at a normal rate again. Molly, a drama queen, was still whimpering from the event and found herself drained of all energy by the time we got back to the house. She dropped in weakness and just had to have a nap from all the trauma. She needed to be assured that she was ok -- and after a good rubdown with a towel and a lot of petting, treats and making sure that I wasn't mad at her, she drifted peacefully off to sleep safely behind the clear doors of her home and on her soft little bed, surrounded by all her toys.
I didn't think about the significance of Molly's adventure until I began writing today. Aren't we just like her? We walk along with God, cooperating with Him and all is going fine, even if our circumstances aren't perfect - we at least feel safe knowing He's there beside us. We pray regularly, read and study His Word, hear His voice and then we begin to walk on our own - we can still see Him and are sure He is right there with us and then we stretch our legs just a little and walk a little further up the path and then we see an opportunity and believing we'll be just fine we run like the wind on an adventure of a lifetime -- and then, we cross the line. The big dogs see us and come after us -- oh they may not make a deadly blow but it scares the living daylights out of us or they bruise us just enough that it hurts a little (or a lot) - and then the shepherd lovingly picks us up, holds us in His arms and brings us back inside the hedge of thorns where we can rest again. He puts another thorn in the hedge just to remind us of that journey and how painful it was to us...and to Him.
Molly may decide to get out again and run on her own - but aren't we as willful as she? She may not run over to where that big dog scared her but she will look for other opportunities. She didn't plan to stray - she planned to play. She loves to please and is a good dog...most Christians want to be good sheep too. But when we worry, fret, lose sleep, wander in our own thoughts, spend without consulting God about it, speak without praying over it, and all those other temptations to sin - we stray. Sometimes it takes a good scare to bring us back into the fold. Sometimes it takes a little hurt to remind us that we need our Shepherd. Sometimes we need Him to carry us back to our own hedge of thorns to remind us just how safe we are within His hedge of protection.
Friend, cry out to the Father, just like little Molly cried for me (really I think she wanted her Mama). Cry loud when the big dogs come after you. Cry and tell Him your hurts, your fears, your pain and your sorrow. Cry and tell Him you have strayed and you need His rescue. Cry and tell Him you need His protection. He will hear you and come to you and will rescue you from harm. He is your shepherd and will not rest until you are back in the fold.
Maybe the lost sleep I've experienced this week is because I've allowed my own mind to wander into the wilderness of my circumstances. Maybe in doing so I've experienced the fear of the big dogs in my own life coming after me, too. Maybe losing sleep has offered me the chance to cry out to God and have Him rescue me from my own wandering thoughts...if you are where I am, then I encourage you to be still and let Him teach you through His Word and likely a circumstance you've experienced this week as well....
I pray you have had a peaceful night of rest and that this day is blessed with grace, goodness and peace. I haven't slept much this week. I'm not sure if it is the excess caffeine or if I've allowed the enemy of stress into my mind or if my sore muscles from climbing a ladder for many days in a row have been the culprit (likely all three) but I definitely haven't gotten my 6 to 8 hours per night this week as recommended by "they" - whoever "they" are.
Earlier this week I wrote about thorns and the hedge of thorns that God places around our lives. I wrote about the correlation of those thorns to the painful things of our lives and related them to Jesus' crown of thorns. Something that hit me this morning was that sheep are prone to stray. God references His children to sheep quite often in His Word and knowing that sheep aren't the brightest creatures of God's creation should keep us ever mindful that being affectionately called sheep by our Creator isn't a compliment. They have brains the size of walnuts, they can't figure out how to get up if they fall on their backs, they have no sense of direction and...they are prone to stray.
Could it be that because of our sheepish nature, we NEED a hedge of thorns? Could it be that the "ouches" of our lives come because we run into that hedge and get stuck and hurt because of our need to stray?
I've been helping a dear friend get her house ready to go on the real estate market and she has the sweetest little dog. My friend works as a teacher and has left her sweet dog, Molly, with me during the day as I've been working at her house. For the last couple of weeks, Molly has been so polite and has waited at the door to get her little leash on to go out to get her business done. But this past Tuesday, Molly had a need to stray. She bolted out the door and acted as if she was going to be well-behaved and walked with me into the garage all the while having a plan of her own as soon as she could break away. She decided that when we left the garage she would walk over to the grassy part and sniff around a little bit. Then she walked slowly but just ahead of me where I couldn't catch her and then all of a sudden she took off to the woods. She was on a grand adventure! I called her and she wouldn't come. I offered treats and rewards of good behavior if she would heed my voice. But she acted as though she was completely deaf. All of a sudden I heard her cries. She was crying as if in great pain - it got louder and louder and all I could imagine was that she had walked up on a copper head snake and he had sunk his fangs into her and filled her with deadly venom. I called her name over and over running to the woods. Suddenly I heard another dog bark and then a human voice saying, "I've got her! She's ok! She's just a little bit scared!" My heart started beating again. I walked to where I could see and there was my friend's neighbor holding Molly in his arms. His big chocolate lab was standing there with him and across the fence was his guard dog, a German shepherd. He saw all that had happened and said that Molly had crossed the fence line and the shepherd stopped her and rolled her a little but didn't hurt her. Molly was trembling and looked to me with great relief. I put her leash on and we peacefully walked back to the house after an exchange of thank you's and my heart started beating at a normal rate again. Molly, a drama queen, was still whimpering from the event and found herself drained of all energy by the time we got back to the house. She dropped in weakness and just had to have a nap from all the trauma. She needed to be assured that she was ok -- and after a good rubdown with a towel and a lot of petting, treats and making sure that I wasn't mad at her, she drifted peacefully off to sleep safely behind the clear doors of her home and on her soft little bed, surrounded by all her toys.
I didn't think about the significance of Molly's adventure until I began writing today. Aren't we just like her? We walk along with God, cooperating with Him and all is going fine, even if our circumstances aren't perfect - we at least feel safe knowing He's there beside us. We pray regularly, read and study His Word, hear His voice and then we begin to walk on our own - we can still see Him and are sure He is right there with us and then we stretch our legs just a little and walk a little further up the path and then we see an opportunity and believing we'll be just fine we run like the wind on an adventure of a lifetime -- and then, we cross the line. The big dogs see us and come after us -- oh they may not make a deadly blow but it scares the living daylights out of us or they bruise us just enough that it hurts a little (or a lot) - and then the shepherd lovingly picks us up, holds us in His arms and brings us back inside the hedge of thorns where we can rest again. He puts another thorn in the hedge just to remind us of that journey and how painful it was to us...and to Him.
Molly may decide to get out again and run on her own - but aren't we as willful as she? She may not run over to where that big dog scared her but she will look for other opportunities. She didn't plan to stray - she planned to play. She loves to please and is a good dog...most Christians want to be good sheep too. But when we worry, fret, lose sleep, wander in our own thoughts, spend without consulting God about it, speak without praying over it, and all those other temptations to sin - we stray. Sometimes it takes a good scare to bring us back into the fold. Sometimes it takes a little hurt to remind us that we need our Shepherd. Sometimes we need Him to carry us back to our own hedge of thorns to remind us just how safe we are within His hedge of protection.
Friend, cry out to the Father, just like little Molly cried for me (really I think she wanted her Mama). Cry loud when the big dogs come after you. Cry and tell Him your hurts, your fears, your pain and your sorrow. Cry and tell Him you have strayed and you need His rescue. Cry and tell Him you need His protection. He will hear you and come to you and will rescue you from harm. He is your shepherd and will not rest until you are back in the fold.
Maybe the lost sleep I've experienced this week is because I've allowed my own mind to wander into the wilderness of my circumstances. Maybe in doing so I've experienced the fear of the big dogs in my own life coming after me, too. Maybe losing sleep has offered me the chance to cry out to God and have Him rescue me from my own wandering thoughts...if you are where I am, then I encourage you to be still and let Him teach you through His Word and likely a circumstance you've experienced this week as well....
May His Words encourage you in your journey today:
"But he was pierced for our transgressions,he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" Isaiah 53:5-6NIV
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