Stray Sheep

    A relationship between a shepherd and his sheep is mentioned so many times throughout the bible. We are the sheep and Jesus is our shepherd, of course. Heard that countless times. It was told to me in a cooler way the other day. Sheep naturally are dumb animals- wandering, not understanding, leaving the flock just because they don't understand the protection they will have there. Sometimes, to get the sheep to come back to the flock, the shepherd has to break the legs of the sheep in order for it to comply so it gets back to safety.
 "7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -John 10

    This way of telling the story of the sheep and shepherd made it much more relevant. We leave the protection of the Lord constantly and aimlessly. We don't know what to do because we don't ask for wisdom and rely on our own knowledge to get us through our struggles. When these struggles lead us astray, God breaks us. By pulling our feet out from under us, God leaves us with no choice but to come back into the safety of his arms. It's not him trying to hurt us when we have trials because he is trying to lead us to life. It's by his mercy that he comes out to find us and bring us back, no matter how hard that is. 
     " ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." -James 1
      It's difficult when going through trials to be thankful for them. My immediate reaction is to be angry or upset. Usually someone will come to me telling me that God has a plan. And that makes me even more mad because I don't want God's plan, I want my plan. But the trials we face are given to us so that we're broken for God's glory. It's to produce character (Romans 5:4) and faith that the Lord has better plans for us than we could come up with on our own (Jeremiah 29:11). We are the stray sheep, and He is our faithful shepherd.