Faith Like a Sheep

When sheep ar following a shepherd, they don't particularly know where they are going. They don't know how long it will take to get there. They don't know what dangers they might face along the way. They don't know if they are on the way to be fed or shorn or bedded down. They just follow the shepherd, who provides for their safety, their nourishment and their shelter. 

The Psalmist says, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall lack nothing...even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear for you are with me..." (Ps 23).  The Psalmist didn't say, "I know I will not be led through a dark valley or that I know what will transpire along the path, he just said that he knew the Shepherd would be with him - Faith like a sheep. 

The sheep, by the way, doesn't try to tell the shepherd which is the best way to proceed, he trusts in the shepherd. The sheep doesn't that he be taken to a sheep that meets his personal standards, he just follows the shepherd. The sheep doesn't insist on knowing where he is being led or what will happen when he gets there, from whatever direction he hears the shepherd's call, he simply heads out. 

Can we really live like that?  Yes we can, many have and do. Wanting to know and control the future comes from a lack of faith and ends in a form of rebellion. 

Moses was quite clear when he wrote, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law" (Deut 29:29).  The future is a secret thing, only Gid knows what it holds. When he reveals a direction to travel or a work to begin, that becomes ours to follow, regardless of whether we know it's end. 

When we can learn to have sheep faith, we can follow the Word of the Lord without fear or angst. We can trust that the Shepherd's got this, knowing we will lack nothing. Peace follows faith. Jus' Sayn.