Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
You see a common narrative in Scripture—you can catch it here and there—the picture of sheep and shepherd. We are often compared to sheep, and I’ve heard people say this before: sheep are so dumb. They get caught in all of the wrong situations, and it takes a shepherd to pull them out. I get that. I’ve seen that. I actually saw a video recently where a sheep was caught in a crack, and a shepherd came along and grabbed it by the back leg and started to free it.
It looked painful, to be very honest, from the sheep’s perspective. He’s stuck in a hole, and the shepherd is going through some pain trying to pull him out. After the sheep gets out, everybody’s cheering—and the sheep jumps and lands right back into the crack. I don’t know if you’ve been in that place before, where you might have experienced a little bit of freedom in your life, only to jump back into the situation you were in before.
Grace Upon Grace
The amazing thing about our Shepherd, Jesus, is that He never grows tired of pulling us out of the situations we get caught in. There is grace upon grace. There is mercy upon mercy—more than you and I even deserve. What I see in this Scripture is that there is a before and after. It says, “Once you were like those who wandered away, but now you have turned.” There’s an action that’s required on our part.
When You Don’t See Him in Front of You
I want to ask you this: have you been in a situation before where you feel like you should see Jesus in front of you, but it’s like you’re walking into unknown terrain? It’s maybe making you wonder if you’ve done something wrong. Normally you would have seen Jesus here, or felt the Holy Spirit leading you in a certain way before—but you don’t feel Him or see Him the way you did.
I want to paint a picture for you. As a sheep, you’re walking with a bunch of other sheep. Your eyes are forward. If the shepherd were a bad one, he would walk in front of you without ever paying attention to you. But the job of the shepherd is to protect the sheep, to guide the sheep. Think of it this way: the shepherd may not be in front of you leading you forward, but he might be behind you—watching the perimeter, making sure there are no wolves or enemies coming in trying to steal you away from his group. You’re walking into something and you don’t see Jesus. It’s not because you failed Him. It’s because He’s behind you.
It’s Okay to Turn Around
Maybe you find yourself in the other scenario, where you’ve jumped back into the crack and you think, how am I going to get myself out of this? There’s an action that’s required on your part, and it says it right here in this Scripture: “You have turned to the Shepherd.” In a moment where you feel like you’ve failed, maybe He’s calling you back. It’s okay to turn around. He’s there for you. He’s got grace for you. He’s always going to take you back. No matter how many times you fall into that crack, He will always be there for you. He will always pull you out. But you have to be willing to allow Him to pull you out—allow Him to protect you.
You are worth that to Jesus. That’s why He went to the cross in the first place. You’re either walking in faith and you don’t see Him in front of you—believe that He’s following behind and He’s got your back—or you’re in the crack again and you don’t know how you’re going to get out. Allow Him to pull you out, and believe that you are worth protecting and being taken care of. Because He loves you. He loves you enough to do that.
