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Unruly Sheep Seeks Patient Shepherd

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by Brandi Pillow

Richard’s sermon from a couple of weeks ago has me examining the 23rd Psalm again. Psalm 23 is one of the first passages that many people learn as a memory verse as children, myself included. It is a passage that is referenced on many different occasions and in many different situations. I think that, because of this, it can be easy to lose sight of how wonderful it really is. In this Psalm, we are told all of the ways our Heavenly Father provides for us. It lets us know that God provides everything we could possibly need, from rest to restoration and from comfort to protection. He promises to supply us with the things we know we require for life but he doesn’t stop there. He goes even further and gives us blessings beyond this, a cup that “overflows” with goodness from our Father.

But one of the best promises in the passage actually comes at the very beginning with the first verse. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Being our Shepherd means God will always care for us, love us, provide for us, and forgive us. He has willingly assumed the role as our caretaker. That’s an awesome thing! For me, the problem comes in because if God is my Shepherd, then that means that I must be a sheep. And like all sheep, I’m simple and silly. I’m prone to become impatient when waiting for my Heavenly Father to fulfill his promises of providing all of these things for me. I can lose sight of how great His promises are and settle for my “best” because I’m not good at the waiting. And my “best” is nowhere near as good as God’s best. I’m not a very patient sheep, but thankfully my Shepherd IS patient. He knows about my unruly sheep ways and he is not surprised by them. He loves me anyway and continually pursues me when I stray and when I make a mess of things. Now, more than ever, I’m thankful for a loving Shepherd who continually seeks me and forgives me when I make my sheepish mistakes.

2 Comments

Well said, Brandi. I’m thankful that you and Watson are fellow sheep with us at WPC. The only explanation for the goodness of our Shepherd to us is what you said: He cares for his sheep.

From one unruly sheep to another, love you Brandi!! Thank you for this reality check!

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