ANY DISTURBANCE or intruder sends them into a panic! Sheep—obviously created to illustrate the nature of people, can run haphazardly into real danger when fearful or anxious. Sheep will not lie down unless they feel secure any more than people will peacefully rest in a big storm.

We experienced storms while living in the Pacific Northwest, but none compared to the faith-testing storms that eventually blew away everything we held dear and familiar. In that process, our small church in Seattle Microsoft country struggled and closed. That put us out of ministry and past our prime for the job market. Our last fledgling graduated and left the nest early because we had to sell our home. A sales job kept us on the road and motels became a new normal. We felt scattered—separated from our children, homeless, and without purpose. I identified with those fearful, nervous sheep. Day after day the future remained hidden with no assurance other than God’s promised presence. He made us “lie down,” made us have to wait… and in our waiting… He fed us. It took time to realize His intentions—simply to rest in Him, simply to trust Him with all our hearts and not lean to our own “sheeple” understanding.

The Prophet Ezekiel saw Israel scattered all over the earth like sheep. Yet God promised to shepherd and gather them back to settle securely into the land promised to their forefathers. Our Shepherd eventually brought us into a new land as well. We moved and settled into Alaska where we enjoyed the security of a good job, new friends, our children, grandchildren, and a new ministry identity.

Did I then shift my security from Christ alone to earthly success and material abundance? The panic I experienced when those earthly securities were threatened, proved I did indeed. Worst case scenarios plagued my imagination and I devised all kinds of ideas and plans to provide for ourselves. Then my Shepherd made me lie down; His still small voice breathed courage and hope into my heart once again.

Of course, God must use something to draw us back to Himself, something to make us aware of our complete inability to remain self-sufficient. Therefore, all the circumstances of our lives work together for that very purpose. Jesus not only shepherds us, but as the true Vine, He also sustains us. So we move from being stupid, frightened sheep to grape racks drawing nourishment from that Vine. That way the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit flows through us to encourage and strengthen others—making us interdependent together with them—again God’s intention.

How does a sheep morph into a branch? Why does God mix metaphors like that? Maybe because being “born-again” doesn’t just fix up the old, it makes us into something entirely different. Paul tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2Co 5:17). This “new creation” rests in the peace and safety of secure attachment to the Vine.

Storms still come to test and strengthen our faith, some unproductive branches must be pruned—lifted up or cut off to conform us to the character of Jesus. God makes us lie down so we will rest from our own striving, our own self-protection, our own works. He wants us to embrace what He has already done for us, is doing in us, and will do through us.

Becoming aware of our limitations and helplessness in these storms make us lie down our self-sufficiency so we can rest in His power. Obscurity and futility make us lie down our self-worship so we and others will worship only Him. Life’s imperfections and flux make us lie down our self-righteousness so He can exchange our filthy rags for His own absolute purity. When we can no longer medicate our pain and conflict with self-gratification, we lay it down and God will make known to us the path of life and fill us with joy in His presence, with eternal pleasures at His right hand (Psa 16:11).

Deep breath. . . release. . . rest.

RESTING

Tonight my spirit
Is as a babe
Wrapped ‘round
In the warm, soft, white folds
Of His righteousness.
The everlasting arms
Hold me close
As His peace
Seeps into my conscious mind,
Lovingly, lulling me to sleep.
All the struggles and pains
Of the day
Are forgotten
As the joy of His love
Melts away everything
But the remembrance
Of His gentle care.
Through the night I rest,
So deeply embedded
In His love.

©MarJean S. Peters