The Lambs in our Lives

“Like a good shepherd, he takes care of his people. He gathers them like lambs in his arms. He holds them close, while their mothers walk beside him.” Isaiah 40:11 (ERV)

I don’t know who the vulnerable are in your world right now. Maybe you’ve experienced the Good Shepherd’s care for you, but you’re wondering about your sons or daughters, nieces or nephews, mentees or disciplees, foster children or co-workers: does God notice them? Do they notice Him? 

Is He considering their fragility and development as He leads? 

Does He realize how much their welfare weighs on you, and yet how incapable you are of carrying them through life, noticing each and every danger and defending them from it? 

Nestled in a chapter of scripture that begins with comfort and ends with strength, comes this pivotal image offering us both: 

A Shepherd, most attentive to the vulnerable and weakest.

A Shepherd, carrying them where they’re most secure. 

A Shepherd, setting a sensitive pace for the concerned mom to walk beside Him.

A Shepherd, intervening in ways that she cannot. 

Sheep, who are with young, as other versions translate it, cannot carry their young. It’s physically impossible for a sheep to pick up her lamb and take it along with her, and it’s improbable that she even knows where safety might be found. To bleat in complaint that she should be the one bearing the lamb’s weight herself would be senseless, so the only thing left for the sheep to do is follow the shepherd who takes her lamb in his arms and trust that He does a better job at holding them.

When you’re burdened about the vulnerable in your life, it isn’t your responsibility to carry them, but to walk beside Him.

Water & Power

A friend recently texted that their town was replacing their neighborhood pipes, so they’d be without water for a short time. Ugh! If you’ve gone without water or electricity for a day or longer, you know that not having something so essential, highlights how essential it really is! Suddenly, its absence makes the heart grow fonder, and we tell ourselves we’ll never take it for granted again.

For me, familiar scripture can be like running water or electricity in our home - it’s there, and it’s nice to have, but sometimes I take it for granted and forget why it’s so crucial.  But what if the Living Water didn’t flow in my life and my power source was cut off? To imagine life without the truth of a familiar passage, I re-write the verses stating the opposite reality. For example, here’s what life would be like without the Shepherd of Psalm 23:

The Lord is not my Shepherd; I lack everything.

No one settles me down in green pastures;

I just keep pushing on through barren deserts.

No one leads me beside still waters;

All I can find are turbulent ones.

No one restores my fatally sick soul.

No one has any reason to point out the right path to me;

I always pick the wrong one.

When I’m trapped in the valley of the shadow of death, 

I fear all the evil, because I’m all alone.

There are no guides or guardrails to comfort me.

I’m starving, but there’s no food around - 

only my enemies are before me, and they consume me.

I’m dry and empty.

Truly, wickedness and steady hatred have chased me down all the days of my life,

and I’m far from the Lord, homeless forever.

If you need fresh appreciation for familiar verses like these, try taking their truths and writing what your reality would be if the opposite were true, because the water and light of the Word become even more precious in their absence.

A Mind that Stays

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3 

Does your mind “stay”?

Some friends brought their dog to our place one day, and since our yard at the time was safely fenced in, they let the dog off its leash. Immediately it dashed to the furthest corner of the grass, sniffed the perimeter for about 1.5 seconds, and wormed its way right off of our property through a small gap in the posts. So much for a peaceful afternoon.

Everyone jumped up, frantic. We shouted the dog’s name, chased it all over the neighborhood, and our friends yelled at it to “stay!” as they ran out of breath. Not a chance. He wouldn't stay.

And my mind won’t either. All of the what-ifs from the other side of the fence spark my imagination and beg for exploration, and my mind runs wildly. For me, this is especially true at night, when darkness closes in around me. How can we experience this truth from Isaiah 26:3 when we have minds that wander more than they stay?

First, I look at each word in this verse. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon (unless otherwise noted) gives these insights for better understanding:

Keep: “guard, watch over” 

Perfect peace: “shalom shalom” (repetition is the Hebrew way to emphasize a concept)

Mind: “imagination, frame of mind” 

Stay: literally, “to place or lay something upon any thing so that it may rest upon and be supported by it” -Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon

Trust: “have confidence in” 

If I were to use these definitions in application to my own struggle, the verse would sound like this: “You stand guard with your extra-wide shield of peace over me when my imagination lays its head down on you, because I’m confident in you.” 

When my mind tugs relentlessly at its leash in the middle of the night, I’m securing the fence posts around my imagination with a simple practice: Picture every post painted with a letter of the alphabet,  A, B, C, etc.  Each letter represents a truth, whether it’s a verse that begins with that letter, or an attribute of God himself, or something for which I’m thankful. 

Hammer the A post deeper into the grass: God is All-seeing

Pound the B post so it’s not going anywhere: Every spiritual Blessing is mine in Christ

Stake down the C post with: “Cast your cares on Him, because He cares for you.” (bonus for 3 c’s!)

I keep going around the border of my mind, letter by letter, so that it’s only bound by reality and resting on God. And those parameters leave me free to be shielded by peace that comes from staying.

Questions I ask myself: 

Is my imagination supported by God or by something else? 

Do my thoughts filter through a framework of confidence in God?

Am I so eager for the reward of peace that I’m willing to train my mind to “stay”?

P.S. Yes, the dog was eventually found, and I’m sure our friends keep a watchful eye on the condition of their fence;)

Walking on Eggshells to Avoid Landmines

Nehemiah 6

The threat level has intensified to bright red. There is no safe space for Nehemiah, framed by enemies spreading conspiracy theories (v. 1-9), betrayed by religious leaders telling him bold-face lies (v.10-14), and entangled in a web of dysfunctional family loyalties (v.17-19). At any moment, someone will crack, or something will blow.

Four times in this chapter words like fear, frighten, and afraid, describe what each of these opposing groups wanted Nehemiah to experience internally as a result of their intimidating letters and lies, rumors and reports.  If they could just make him feel vulnerable, fear would shrivel Nehemiah into inaction. 

Trust no one.

Be afraid.

Give up.

But Nehemiah’s response gives us insight into the convictions that held him steady to his calling when it would have been reasonable to walk away.

“I’m doing a great work.” (v.3) 

Interestingly, that work likely included tasks that could be considered not-so-great. Imagine the hours of city council meetings, getting approval of architectural drawings, and recruiting the labor force to spend months in masonry. But it was great because his work was entrusted to him by God. 

When all of the little tasks included in our work don’t exactly feel great, how convinced are we that our work is great because of the One who assigned it to us? Only that kind of conviction will hold us steady when opposition comes. 

I want to say with Nehemiah, “This work came from God, therefore it’s too great to abandon.”

“O God, strengthen my hands.” (v.9)

Although approved by the king, it wasn’t the king who empowered Nehemiah to govern or to fill the role of General Contractor. The power to accomplish anything on behalf of Jerusalem came by the strength God gave him, and Nehemiah depended prayerfully on that strength when everyone seemed to be against him.

If I had been in Nehemiah’s position, I probably would have tip-toed out in the night and run straight back to King Artaxerxes to ask for reinforcements. I think I would have looked for strength from the wrong source. 

I want to say with Nehemiah, “My strength to do this work comes from God, therefore, it’s Him I need most in order to do it.”

“This work has been accomplished by the help of our God.” (v.16)

The lack of support plus the motley crew on site just didn’t add up to the astonishing completion of the city wall. But 52 days later, the job was done. Only a work of God could have produced these results, and even the opposition reached this conclusion.

When the first two responses are true about our lives, then may anyone evaluating our work conclude correctly, “She did this work by the help of her God.”

Hurricane Milton

A prayer inspired by Psalm 89:8-14

As family and friends down south brace for yet another storm, my heart lifts up this prayer:

O Lord God of Hosts, the one who commands angel armies, 

Who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? 

You rule the raging of the sea. 

Rule it.

When its waves rise, you still them. 

Still them.

The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours. 

Hold them.

The world and all that is in it, you have founded them. 

Steady them.

The north and the south, you have created them. 

Care for them.

You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand. 

Reach down.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. 

Reign over.

Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

Come quickly.