I often feel so deeply for people that I just want to take their painful bit from their story and erase it so they no longer have to feel or remember that painful part of their lives.
The thing is that often the painful part of our story is what Jesus tends to use the most! Jesus is in the business of making the broken into something beautiful.
It's also the part in our lives that makes us vulnerable and that makes people able to relate to us.
He uses our pain often to help us realise that we can't do life on our own we need him in our lives we need people who love us around us to encourage and build us up.
I have a beautiful carving of a shepherd carrying a lamb, I love lambs they are so fragile looking so reliant on their mothers and their shepherd to feed them and to keep them safe.
The thing is like us, lambs often get into messes, they fall down ditches they get stuck in brambles they stray way too far from their mothers.
A good shepherd doesn't just leave them in their messes,He hears their bleating and goes looking for them, He comes and pulls them out, cleans their wounds and carries them to safety.
That carving is a daily reminder to me that I need to keep coming to my good shepherd. Who loves me and will carry me through the mess and is always with me.
Keeping with the sheep analogy we can often feel like we are in a drove (had to look up on google what you call a group of sheep) of sheep and yet can feel alone, especially in our own pain) we can feel insignificant, unloved etc. When we bleat out Jesus name he immediately turns his head towards us and thinks wow Ang is talking to me He is so excited that we have called out his name beciase loves it when we talk to him. He reminds us we are not alone!
He tenderly cares for us and loves us, we only just have to remember to keep talking and listening to him! Just as a sheep needs to stay close to the shepherd to be fed a be cared for we need to remember to stay close to Jesus.
Wherever you are right now remember Jesus is your good shepherd keep calling out to him He loves you and wants to care for you just rest in Him.
“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”
Isaiah 40:11 NIV
http://bible.com/111/isa.40.11.niv
