Isaiah 40:11 Monday

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

When I was growing up, everything with my dad was either black or white; there was no middle ground. You were either right or wrong, and if you disagreed with him you were wrong. (I might add it's still a lot like that today except I'm the adult obstinate child who can now tell him HE might be wrong and not worry about being punished for it.) He had a leather belt and knew how to use it--maybe not the "child abuse" way but definitely the "spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child" kind of way. He was someone I feared but had no real relationship with.

Anyway, as I grew up and became a Christian, and even as I got older as an adult, I looked at God the same way I looked at my dad. I was fearful, never dreaming that He could love me unconditionally. I doubted I could ever meet his expectations and couldn't imagine him ever being proud of me.

It was not until I read A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller, that I saw God from an entirely different perspective. Phillip Keller was an actual shepherd who wrote about the shepherd's relationship with his sheep. He was tender, loving, kind, caring and protective of every sheep, in ways I could not imagine, especially for the ones that went astray. And I felt that was me.

This week I want to look at God as our shepherd, from the sheep's perspective. I want us to meditate on his tenderness when he "tends" us, his devotion when he "gathers" us, his strength when he "carries" us and his gentleness when he "leads" us. It's a depiction of God I wish I had had all my life.