Sheepish Tendencies

Sheepish Tendencies

They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.

Ezekiel 34:28

IN WORD Handel set Isaiah 53:6 to music in a memorable way, but we hardly needed reminding: “All we like sheep have gone astray” (KJV). We know that straying is the tendency of our hearts, and it always has been. With eyes that focus on our surroundings more than on the Shepherd, and ears that listen to other voices indiscriminately, we are prone to wander according to our mood of the moment. That can be very dangerous.

So the promise that we will “live in safety” is not just a comforting statement that God speaks through Ezekiel. It’s a matter of urgency and desperate need. With aimless hearts that lead us through a countryside full of vicious hyenas and gaping crevices, this is no small promise.

It is, however, a promise that is easy to forget. The world doesn’t seem very safe. And, being sheep, we usually focus on the world, not the Shepherd. That puts us in a tentative, even petrified, state of mind. We feel defenseless against the predators, and the slopes seem awfully slippery. The more we consider how frightened we ought to be, the more frightened we become.

IN DEED The Shepherd, however, doesn’t want us to be afraid. From His perspective, we’re perfectly safe already. He won’t let us wander into crevices too deep for us, He can see the predators coming from miles away, and He knows exactly where He is leading us. At the end of wandering, there’s a safe pasture with flowing streams and ample grass. The fears that seem so large to us are extremely small to Him.

Living with that understanding is a huge part of what faith is all about. When the sheep get a glimpse of the Shepherd’s perspective, fear vanishes. More than that, when the sheep get a glimpse of the Shepherd’s heart, fear becomes completely illogical. A sheep that remains in ignorance spends its life in fear and apathy. A sheep that trusts its Shepherd implicitly becomes a noble creature of confidence and purpose. And every member of the flock must decide which it wants to be.

The best answer to fear is to have a firm grasp of what it means to be accepted by God.

—JOHN GUNSTONE