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Have you experienced God's guidance in your life?
PSALM 23:3
He restores my soul; he leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Sheep know their shepherd cares for them. He will lead them to the best pastures, to sparkling streams and to quiet lakes. He will give them salt and protect them in danger. To him they throng. They follow him and in him alone they trust. They know and follow him.
Curiously, however, there are sheep who believe that at some distance from the herd they will find better grass. They separate themselves from the herd and thus get into danger. The shepherd sees them and calls to them immediately. However, if they should pretend to not hear him and continue to graze on foreign soil, he will grab a rock and hurl it into the flank of the respective animal. That's quite painful. Maybe the silly sheep will jump to the side with a big leap or even run further away from his master. Then the shepherd will tell his dog to pursue it, bark at it, frighten it, and to even bite it if necessary. The Lord chastens His sheep out of love for them - to save and preserve them. He knows they are not able to survive without Him and are in need of His leadership. So he calls them, strikes them and lets them be rounded up by His dogs, so that they will not rush headlong into disaster.
The living Lord calls to wayward followers today with constant pastoral fidelity. We do not know what path you are on or if perhaps you went astray, dear reader. But it could be the call of the Shepherd reaches you and you are contemplating whether to turn back or to continue your own way. We strongly recommend you to return immediately; come back to your shepherd, so that he does not need to chastise, strike you and let you be bitten until you finally turn back to Him again. Why remain apart from the Good Shepherd for so long, since He wants to offer you His friendly provision.
Whoever closes his ears to the voice of the Good Shepherd and hardens his heart against his chastisements of love, will run to ruin. The Shepherd does not want to keep the sheep selfishly by His side, but wants to save them from falling. He wants to bring them back again before it's too late.
Not all sheep run away. The majority follows their shepherd. They bear a hidden witness in their heart. They say: "The Lord leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake."
What a comfort! The great God, the Creator of heaven and earth leads us. Each can say He has also taken responsibility for my life, in time and eternity, after I have totally committed myself to His leadership. He does not lead some to life and others to destruction. He is not a callous despot, for it is His will that all His sheep arrive home safely. The Lord is a caring Father, who suffers with and for His followers and sacrifices everything He has for them. He does everything possible to preserve the sheep of His flock, to encourage and to save them. As God is greater than all men, so is His leadership, wisdom and authority. There are many leaders in this world: political leaders, religious leaders and great philosophers. No one is equal to God, and all men are only dust. He alone is eternal, holy, righteous, glorious and powerful. He Himself is Love, so that we can confidently entrust our lives to Him, if we have not done so already.
The good Shepherd chooses the best way of life for everyone. He does not send us into a depressing future. We do not have to manage the problems of our life alone and unaided. He walks before us if we follow Him in faith through all the different stages of our lives. Wherever we go he has already been there before and has prepared everything. If we follow Him, we are never alone. He remains with us. We should not lag behind Him or run ahead of Him, but keep up with Him. Then it will go well with us.
The straight path He leads us down does not correspond to a rigid law with numerous prohibitions and unattainable commandments. Instead, it is the sacred way of His love. He wants His goodness to take shape in us. His peace and His rest, His security and His protection should be reflected in our lives. Jesus said, "I want My joy to remain in you and that your joy may be perfect" (John 15:11) In following the Good Shepherd, we will learn patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness and chasity. The Spirit of the Good Shepherd wants to transform our character. His mercy, goodness and holiness will shape our behavior. Following God will not only yield practical results and material blessings; it will also have consequences: Sins and concerns must give way as the Spirit of the Lord guides us.
Why is the Good Shepherd doing all of this? Is it because we are so good, praying a lot and reading the Bible, well-behaved as we are? These are at best fruits of His blessings, but not the cause of His loyalty. No, He does not love us because we are righteous; rather, He has adopted us even though we are impure, selfish, arrogant and rebellious. The good Shepherd only accepts hopeless cases. He has begun His instructional work, His leadership and His new creation in us for His name's sake. If we were to try and make a case against His guidance because of our honesty, we would have long since fallen into a ditch or been torn apart by the lions. No one is good except God (Luke 18:19)! Solely for His name's sake, the Lord leads us in uprightness. He is the good Shepherd. The Shepherd is faithful and is willing to lay down His life for His sheep. Eternal salvation finds its justification not in our righteousness, but in His name, in His Father's will, and only to His infinite delight. He does not save us because of our good deeds, nor because of our better than average genetic inheritance. Circumcision has no value, and neither has great financial sacrifice. Only His love, His virtues, His will, His decision to accept and to save us, constitute the basis and the cause of our salvation. He is our Savior, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). We can try to escape or to defy His leadership, but if we have deliberately turned over our lives to Him He will not leave us nor forsake us. He comes after us. He will seek and find us. He will catch up with us and guide us unto an eternal path. He is the Guarantor for us and for our future.