Isaiah 40:11
He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
The mother sheep lay down on the grass with her lamb nestled beside her. She licked her baby several times before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The morning came, and she opened her eyes to find that her little one had wandered off in the night. She jumped to her feet and frantically began to search for him among the other sheep and lambs within the flock. Baaing desperately, she raced back and forth, but she could not find him anywhere.
She could see The Shepherd up ahead and He began to move, the flock following behind. The mother sheep looked away at the distant hills wondering if her lamb could be found there. She could hear her Shepherd’s voice calling His flock to follow and obey.
With her heart overwhelmed with sadness, she turned and trailed along with the other sheep. Every once in awhile the Shepherd would turn His head and smile at her. “Come along,” He would say. "Trust Me.”
She continued to follow Him, weeping for her loss as she went, her tears falling in her steps to be trampled in the sand. The only comfort she had left was her Shepherd, so she continued to walk toward Him, her need driving her past the other sheep until she was walking close by the Shepherd’s side.
He looked down at her sad, brown eyes and smiled,
pleased to see that she had come so close to Him.
She looked up at Him and saw His smile through
her tears. He was holding his staff in His hand, his
other arm was cradled around something. Then He
turned so she could see.
She heard the familiar sound of her little one’s call.
Her lamb was tucked safely in the Shepherd’s embrace
where her loved one had been kept all along.
copyright 2007 by Hannah Shively |