Come to the Shepherd

"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

At a conferance some time ago I had the opportunity to speak with Pastor Zylstra and he told me a story that I have often thought about since then...

A couple who had drifted away from the church lost a child to cancer and asked their pastor why God would do such a horrible thing as taking away their child...the pastor told them this story...

A shepherd was having trouble with one ewe in the herd...he would call her but she refused to come. She always wanted to do her own thing, blaze her own trail, but this meant she was often in danger. A sheep needs to be in the herd and close to the shepherd to be safe...this ewe was not.

The shepherd wanted to protect this ewe...but she was stubborn and would not listen to the shepherd. The shepherd resorted to his last option...the ewe had a young lamb who she would not leave, so the shepherd took the lamb away from her and carried it around so the ewe stayed close by. It took the loss of a 'child' to bring the ewe to the shepherd...

sometimes God takes something away from us to bring us back to Him!