My Sheep Know Me
Which makes you more afraid, the known or the unknown?
The known facts in our lives can be very ominous – cancer, being unmarried, a harsh supervisor, unable to have kids. Usually, however, it’ s the unknown that frightens us most – how long will the cancer let me live and how painful will it be? what if I never find someone to marry, and people think (and I believe them) I’m too weird for anyone to love me? how long will I be able to keep my job? will retirement leave me empty?
Worse yet is when we convince ourselves that the unknown is a factually known truth, even though it isn’t.
It is generally not known that sheep are so timid and easily panicked that even a stray jackrabbit suddenly bounding from behind a bush can stampede a whole flock. When one startled sheep runs in fright, a dozen others follow without knowing the reason for fear.
Modern day shepherds keep watch in the fields at night with a flashlight and .303 rifle – quieting and reassuring the sheep. The presence of their master and owner and protector put them at ease. In the end, it doesn’t matter how we analyze our fears – they are stilled when we realize our Shepherd is “with us always, even to the end of the age.”
In order for us sheep to be completely free from fear and at rest, we must not seek to know the unknown but rather rely on the known. We say to our Good Shepherd, “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way” (Psalm 142:3).
Our sinful flesh wants us to always be in control, but our new, living, breathing spirit of life and faith can be confident even if things are out of our hands and in the hands of our faithful Shepherd. Isn’t it better that way, with everything in his hands, not ours?
When seeking to put us sheep at ease, Jesus doesn’t reveal his detailed plans of operation, his blueprints of blessings in disguise, or the gigabytes of data he’s analyzing to make everything work out for our good. He doesn’t say to us, “My sheep know my every move, they know my protocols and plans, and they know the playbook of my divine power backwards and forwards.
Jesus simply puts us at ease with the words, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10:14). That’s all we need to know. He’s all we need to know.
PRAYER: Knowledge has such power for me, Lord. If I only knew more, I’d be more in control and able to do things better than you do … oh, there’s my problem. I trust more in myself than you. How foolish. How slow of heart to believe. In your reclaiming forgiveness I must put my hope. In your capable care I will, with your help, commit my body, soul, career, relationships, finances, health, and all things. Amen.