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“You will feel confident because there’s hope, 

and you will look around 

and rest in safety.”

Job 11:18

This morning I had a truly precious experience.  God has been giving me glimpses of what it means to be one of His Own, using children and sheep as His primary “visual aids.”

I had made my daily morning trek out to the sheep pasture.  In the past six months it’s become a very sweet venue for God to speak to my heart.  Experiencing real sheep in a real pasture was never in my plan, but it was apparently in God’s Plan for this chapter of my life.

Maneuvering through the fence of the sheep’s field, I was greeted as usual by the two little orphaned and abandoned lambs for whom I’ve helped care since they were born.  I headed to a rickety old wooden “spool” I use as a table, and set up my weathered old chair.  Taking out my notepad and pen, I was interrupted by Easter and Autumn calling their “Maaaa’s” as they headed to my humble ‘writing table.’  One on each side of me, they nudged my legs, waiting for me to scratch their soft ears and wooly faces.  

Trying to focus on thoughts toward my Good Shepherd, I was being interrupted by the insistent nudges of the two lambs on each side of me.  Finally, I laid down my pen and just focused on scratching the two sweet faces resting their heads on my knees.  As I rubbed their wooly faces, I surveyed the scene that surrounded me: large mama sheep munching grass, and then lying down in a tangled pile of old logs, ewes, branches and lambs. Birds, butterflies, and flowers  

drew my attention as I rubbed the soft heads.

Then, I heard a new, quiet sound beside me.  Easter had fallen asleep with her furry head resting on my knee as I scratched her nubby neck and head.  Standing, she was leaning into me, her dark brown eyes closed. She was asleep.  

That simple, touching moment caught my heart and I sensed a Whisper of my name from my Good Shepherd.  He was near.  He was with me.  No words necessary.  My soul could be at rest with that.

“Now you will see what I will do.”

Exodus 6:1

Moses had just walked into a lot of ‘hot water.’   He had done what God had told him to do, and everything was getting worse!   An enraged Pharaoh was now breathing down his neck . . . making threats, and heating up his cruelty to  God’s people.  Moses began  doubting God.   I can imagine his questions:  Did I hear God wrong?  Is this some kind of Divine joke?  I must have been crazy to go to Pharaoh and tell him to “…let my people go!”   

Everything just got worse.   God’s people  . . . slaves who had put trust in the reluctant Moses,  were now in a worse situation than before!

And what does Moses – their leader – do?   He goes to God with frantic questions, fear, and even accusations for the predicament they were all in now.  Not only was Pharaoh (with all the power of Egypt) against him, angry and breathing threats to Moses and all of God’s people, but  their whole nation-in-exile was angry with him as well.

God knew.  He saw exactly how this horrible situation had unfolded.  He was there.    And surveying the chaos, He said, “NOW you will see what I will do.”

Can you relate?   You have taken risks, stepped out of your comfort and onto a limb, because you believed that God had asked you to do so.   It may not have made a lot of sense to you, or to the people around you . . . those looking to you with trust.  Hope.  And then, . . . everything goes haywire.

And God says, “NOW you will see what I will do.” 

When I followed God’s Call to me to become involved with my desert nation, all Hell broke loose in my life.  There were vicious attacks on our church, on my reputation, on my husband and family.  Most devastating was that it came from Believers.  The Enemy of our souls does not want God’s people to move into the Darkness with God’s Light.  There will always be great resistance.

When we come to the end of ourselves … our confidence, skills, education,  passionate desire to do great things for God, He patiently watches it unravel.  And as we stand there watching all our great intentions, hopes and plans crumble, He Whispers, “Now!  See what I will do.”  

In my early years in the desert refugee camps, we came to them with great plans, with passionate hearts . . . and a lot of great people sacrificing time, skills, and their own comfort.  I’d submit the written, organized, agreed-upon “Plan” to God, asking Him to bless it and make it all happen.  I could swear that I would hear His Soft Chuckle, then crumpling it up with a wink and a smile He’d say, “Now!…Here’s what we’re going to do…“   

And it was ALWAYS far better than what we had come up with!  That realization may have taken some time to become clear to us, but His Plan was always the BEST!

“I will give thanks to You

    as I learn Your regulations,

which are based on your righteousness.

I will obey your laws.

    Never abandon me.”

Psalm 119:7-8

If you’ve ever spent time in a foreign country, you know how much goes on in normal life there that seems strange.  You’ve stepped into “their world” and it may take a while for you to even realize how different that world is.  For example, you may rent a car from the airport in London, but you quickly notice that the steering wheel is on the “wrong side” of the car, and everyone there is driving on the “wrong side” of the road. Unless you make a very quick course adjustment, you’ll soon find yourself on the “wrong side” of the law. But it’s their world,and YOU are the one who needs to make the course adjustments.

God’s Kingdom is completely different from our world on this earth.  But it’s HIS World, and guess who needs to make the course adjustments when you enter into it!!

The first few years that I stepped into the desert world of the Saharawi, I was not thinking about how their world operated.  I was operating in my world.  I couldn’t understand why they did the things they did, especially because I thought myworld, myways were better.  I would usually end up standing before some leader there in tears, because nothing had worked out the way I had planned.

Guess who needed to adjust the plans???   I had come with all the details worked out of how this would go. It was a GREAT plan!   But it was as if, in showing my plan to God,  He patiently looked it over, then kindly crumpled it up and tossed it over His shoulder.  With a wink and a smile, He took my hand and proceeded to walk me through the Plan He was already unfolding.

I not only had to look to Him for His Plans, but I had to become a “learner” of the Saharawi’s world….how they did things….what they valued….how their world worked.  And after many years of frustration, I began to discover the wisdom and realities of their world.  Life became much less stressful and much more fruitful.

God’s regulations are perfect.  Period. He put it – and us – together in the first place.  He knows how it – and we – best work out on this globe and in His World.  To run around in this life, doing what we think is best . . . what we want life to be, how we want things to go, will most likely not go well.  As we live in His Kingdom, we must be willing to learn. Life in His Kingdom is SO different from the kingdoms of this world.  We don’t know how to do it. We need to posture ourselves as “learners” of His Kingdom.  His ways, His Laws, His regulations will be absolutely perfect, as He is Perfect.  And as He kindly gives us understanding, insight, patience, and countless “2nd,3rd,4th, gazilian” chances, we begin to understand the incomparable benefit of following His Ways.

Notice how this verse ends. . .  a plea for what matters most:  “Never abandon me.”   There is no comparison of this world to His Kingdom.  He promised to never leave us….never abandon us.  Stop fighting what He has set up for our good.  Hold tightly to His Hand, as He holds to ours, and trust Him as He shows us, step by step, how His Kingdom works….the Kingdom into which He has invited us.

“ . . . the sheep respond to his (their shepherd’s) voice.

He calls His sheep by name. . .

The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.”

John 10:3-4 

Like it or not, we are the “sheep” in the Bible.   For most of us, that’s an unfamiliar reality, and not an image with which we can truly connect.  Thankfully, sheep haven’t changed much throughout world history, and we can still learn and see what that imagery entails.  Most of us flash back to the children’s song, “Mary had a little Lamb…”   which she did!

I was struck recently by another Mary who was in Jesus’ earthly adult life.  She had quite a story, and would not have been the kind of woman anyone would expect to see in Jesus’ life.  She had followed Him, literally, after her first encounter.  She had watched Him and the way He lived, interacted, loved, and taught in daily life.  She had heard so many of the things He said…to His followers, to strangers, to huge crowds, and all levels of society.  She had watched and listened, and was often part of His circle of friends.  She had learned so much from Him. He had changed her life.

She had also watched Him die.  She was there.

In the following days of utter shock, she went to the place where Jesus’ body had been laid.  Sitting quietly nearby, her mind and heart must have been consumed with her shock….sorrow….life-shattering loss.  She was weeping.  Then, Jesus came.  Mary saw Jesus standing there.  So absorbed in her own thoughts, her own deep sorrow, she did not recognize Him.

Then, He said her name.  “Mary.”   And she knew.  She knew His Voice.  No more was needed.

We, like sheep, can be so familiar with “the flock,” with the quiet security of our pasture, our safe place that is “home,” and the care we experience every day from our Shepherd.  It all can blend together to be “normal life.”   We, like Mary, can become so absorbed in our present realities, be it pain or joy or sadness,  routines. . . or just “life.”   We easily miss the fact that our Good Shepherd is present.  That Reality can simply become a part of everyday life.

And then, He says  your name.

In all of the daily life, through the blur of familiar activities and routines, He speaks your name.  Do you hear it?   Are you familiar enough with Him that you recognized That Voice?  Have you spent enough time with Him that you know His Voice?  Do you recognize when He says your name?  He has things to tell you. . . personally . . by name.  He wants you to know His thoughts toward you.  He wants you to know His Presence in your life.  You . . . by name.

“Your clothes didn’t wear out,

and

Your feet didn’t swell . . . “

Deut. 8:4

I bet you’re thinking…”WHAT??!!   Is that in the Bible?”

Well, not the schlepping word exactly, but I have been focusing on the incredible stories of the 40 years journey of God’s people in the desert. I’m contemplating the former Hebrew slaves of Egypt, God’s people, “schlepping”  through the desert, learning Who God is, who they were, what it meant to be free, and what it meant to become a nation. (‘Schlepping’ is an old Yiddish term that just seems appropriate to use in this context.  It’s kinda walking, trudging, dragging along on foot.)  They could have completed their “desert experience” in a year, but their desert “classroom” period lasted 40 years…..  They had a lot to learn.

A million people, having lived as slaves for centuries, had a lot of hard work to do to begin living an entirely new life as a nation… as free people.  It would have been a tremendous challenge just to change their mentality in becoming free after centuries of forced slavery.  But to become a nation . .regaining their identity as people, as a nation  . . . yikes.  That’s a LOT of emotional, mental, and relational adjustment.

But these were God’s own.  He was there from the Beginning.  His Plan had not changed.  The desert years were His Time with His people.  The former slave nation needed to learn what it was to be God’s People. . . to learn what life as a nation and as a Family would be.  He gave them the “Family Rules” – 10 of them . . . the guiding principles for how they would live with Him and each other as His Family.

Imagine your entire extended family traveling through a desert together.  Even for a day, much less 40 years!   The bickering, the whining,  the “pit stops” in the middle of nowhere,  an extremely limited food selection – SAME THING EVERY DAY!  No shade.  No map.  No Kwik Trip. “I’m HOT!”…”Yeah….Live with it!” No showers.  No air conditioning.  Every day the same. . . pick up the blanket, drag it along, find the sandals, find the kids, eat the manna, spare the water, check on Gramma,  drag the “stuff” you’d grabbed on your way out of Egypt.  Argue again about “why did you have to bring that!? You carry it then.”   “I’m sure we passed that same rock 3 months ago!”   “Who’s reading the map???”   “Is there a map?”   and “If Gladys tells me that same story one more time . . . I’m gonna smack her!”

All of this going on day in, day out.  Weeks…months….years….  And they were going around in a massive circle, basically.  Lots of grumbling about that, too !!!

But recently, re-reading that ancient story, I noticed a sentence I’d never caught before.

Deut. 8:2  “Remember that for 40 years the Lord your God led you on your journey in the desert . . (:4)Your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t swell these past 40 years.

(Note:  SWELL … not “smell.”)  

Those little details spoke volumes to me.  God’s kindness and attention to details that matter to us is so sweet . .so personal . .so practical. . . so loving.   I can definitely relate to the detail of swollen feet from schlepping through hot sands every day.  Trying to find a stable surface to put my hot, swollen feet and ankles up against to try to relieve the effects of gravity was a constant longing.   Without enough water to drink, it seemed a dream to use precious water on my feet. . . or clothes.

For many of us, the thought of wearing the same thing EVERY DAY sounds horrible.  But despite the circumstances, their clothes lasted.  Miraculously.  40 YEARS!   (I realize that for most of us, even if we’re crazy about a piece of clothing, we don’t get excited about it lasting for 40 years!)

God, Who was caring for a troublesome nation He dearly loved, had all the major, national needs covered for all those years.  Despite their complaints, rebellions, and failures, He still attended to the details of their everyday struggles.  It gives a glimpse into His love and intimacy toward His People…His Family.  He was “in the details.”

As we schlep along through our days, may we take note of all those kind details that He cares about in our daily lives, too.  And be grateful.