The Narrow Way

The other day, while caring for my sheep, I walked into such a vivid picture…

I was moving the sheep from one paddock to another. Due to the recent addition of a pig, I decided to move them around the outside of the paddocks instead of through them. My plan was to take them through Paddock 4’s gate, around the pig’s paddock (3), and into Paddock 2’s gate 🤓

Usually my matriarch, Daisy, would lead the way in following me (and often a bucket of grain) and the rest would predictably follow her to wherever I wanted them to go.

But Daisy has been off base 😕 She had about a week of normal between recovering from her C-section to full on shedding and a minor infection of her C-section’s incisions. Her discomfort is evidenced by her avoidance of me 😞 She just doesn’t do what she normally does and has little interest in everything (she’ll bounce back in a week or two😀).

So instead of following Daisy to me, every sheep did what they wanted 🙈. They ignored me and my delicious bucket of grain and blew right past me! At top speed the mamas and their lambs all raced to the sheep shed as I stood in Paddock 2 🙄 During the lambing weeks, they became quite familiar with their shed which we otherwise only use for food storage and vetting. However, this spring it became a place of snacks, shelter, and security 💝

I stood there and shook my head as I walked to the shed to collect them and move them to Paddock 2 through a different route. At the same time, God began to whisper.

So often, we–God’s sheep–receive something from Him in a certain place and begin to associate that place as the place of blessing instead of Him as the blesser. We go to church (as we should) without thinking twice or pausing to ask if we that’s where the Shepherd plans to meet us. If we are honest, we often go because that’s just “what we do” and we lose the Shepherd along the way. We associate our Church with being a place of safety, security, and snacks, just like my little flock did.

And this is NOT necessarily a bad thing, but it could be if we aren’t mindful…Our Churches (Sheep shed) should be all of the things above, but they should never be those things and void of the Good Shepherd.

I’ve heard so many people call sheep “dumb animals,” which they can be. But remember, God calls us the “Sheep of His Pasture.” Humans aren’t dumb, we just tend to move forward without thinking. We, like sheep, are creatures of habit.

In the story above, for a multitude of reasons, my sheep defaulted to where they thought they should be instead of where I was calling them to 🤯 They were so used to the sheep shed being the place of blessing that they ignored me as they ran off to where they felt most comfortable. To be fair, they’re animals, so I can’t really blame them😉

Yet, this picture from several days ago stuck with me even until now. How often do I (we) as believers follow the same path because it’s what we think we should do? What would our walk with our Shepherd look like if instead of blazing past Him, we let Him lead us?

We will only know if we stop, listen, and then follow.

Please hear me clearly on this: I believe that the Church is good and God uses it for His purposes 🔥 If we are believers, attendance is not optional, we are absolutely to be part of a flock☑️ That said, it’s important to avoid the religious habits and formats that we are prone to 😬 While these activities can be blessed, we can also easily lose our Shepherd and miss what it is He has for us, or where He wants to take us.

If Daisy was on her A-game, this never would’ve happened. But when my leader was feeling off, my flock went off track too 😓

So guard yourself. Make sure that YOU, personally, have a relationship with the Shepherd, because someone else’s relationship simply won’t do and if they fall away–well–you may too 😟 Make sure you don’t charge the building this weekend and miss the Shepherd 🙂 Hopefully He’s in that space, but it’s up to you to find Him 😉