The Sheep Are Safe With the Good Shepherd

Apr 22, 2025

Good morning and welcome to the Spirit of Stress newsletter! It’s a pleasure to be with you in spirit this morning. I hope you have your Bible, and your coffee, tea, or favorite drink. I hope you spent some much-needed time with the Lord and your loved ones this weekend. And I pray you’ve drawn closer to the Lord and trust that your times are in his hands.

A little over eleven years ago I became a dad for the first time. I’ll never forget the hurricane of emotions that spun violently in my mind as my wife’s delivery date was approaching. I never felt more insecure or full of doubt about anything. My wife and I are planners, but it’s like they say, you can never be completely ready to become a parent. I agree with that to some degree, because there are so many unknowns. It’s all uncharted territory! I thought I was pretty put together - I wasn’t. As excited as I was, I was just as terrified. I was so afraid to fail. I made so many bad decisions in my life that I was convinced I would make more and not only ruin my life, but my family’s too. I was so afraid to be a disappointment. I didn’t want to ruin this precious child’s life.

The greater the task, the less sure we are of ourselves to accomplish it.

Can you relate to this? A lack of self-efficacy?

self-efficacy: a person's belief that they can be successful when carrying out a particular task. Cambridge

So many people don’t try things because they don’t believe they’ll be any good at it. It’s not a lack of self-esteem necessarily. More accurately, it’s a lack of self-efficacy. Do you know people like this? Is one of your children like this? One of mine is. As adults this could be catastrophic. People will go as far as to sabotage their marriage or relationship out of fear of failing as a parent. They might do it before the child is born, or when they make their first mistake as a parent. Often, relationships are severed completely and indefinitely, and sometimes the dynamic of the relationship has changed so much that the person is not the parent or spouse they hoped they would be.

I say this to say:

As Christians, our efficacy is not rooted in our self, it’s rooted in Christ.
Christ doesn’t have the insecurities, doubts, or inabilities we have.
He didn’t just die for us. He was raised, in power, and he lives for us.

Today we’re going to talk about what it means to be a sheep and the safety we have as sheep in the care of the Good Shepherd. But first, let’s pray.

Opening Prayer

Lord, thank you for being our strength and wisdom. Thank you for not leaving us unattended. Thank you for being the Good Shepherd over our faculties and being. Thank you for your hedge of protection and keeping us from the evil one. Help us to cast down the pride that puffs us up to do things on our own. Help us to boast only in our weakness. Help us to lean not on our own understanding. Today, give us nourishment through your word. May it change us and from the inside out. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

Knowing Who Our Shepherd Is

The level of our security hinges on the might of our Shepherd.

Do you know who your shepherd is? It’s okay to admit that you forget sometimes. Whenever I find myself full of anxiety, uncertainty, or fear, I know that I am not thinking about who my shepherd is. I’ve forgotten who holds me in His hand. I’ve forgotten His attributes and his intentions with me. Let’s take a moment to be reminded of who our God is.

“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?” Isaiah 46:3-5
“Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” Isaiah 43:13
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8
“The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life.” Psalms 121:7
“So we say with confidence, ‘the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’” Hebrews 13:6

As a dad, I know my kids feel safe with me. They’re confident in my ability and my intentions. How much greater is our God? We forget… we forget who He is. We put limitations on Him, as if there is something in this world that could contend with Him. It’s a ploy from Satan. He has always ventured to discourage us by having us doubt God’s attributes or what His intentions are for us. If Satan can’t get us to doubt God’s attributes, he will try to get us to doubt God’s intentions. It doesn’t impact our salvation, but it impacts our faith. We’re not walking around saying with confidence, the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. There are periods in our lives, where we doubt our helper or doubt that He will help us. In times like this, we have to run to our Father’s word and be reminded of who He is, and what his intentions are. We are safe in the arms of our Father. We are safe in the care of the Good Shepherd.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:27-29

Do you believe this? Do you believe God is greater than all? Do you believe no one will snatch you out of his hand? If you don’t then you can not have peace. If we don’t trust in God’s power to keep us, or his intentions to keep us, then we live a life of spiritual unrest. We live a vulnerable spiritual life susceptible to Satan’s fiery arrows because we’ve removed our helmet of salvation.

If we are his sheep, we can be certain that we are safe in his care.

“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.”

Psalms 32:1

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Identifying Traits of Christ’s Sheep

“Methinks, no man can trust providence till he distrusts himself; and none can say, ‘the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,’ until he has given up every idle notion that he can control himself or manage his own interests.”

Charles Spurgeon

Sheep, by their very nature, are foolish and dependent. They’re mindless wanderers with no keen sense of danger. They’re not intuitive. We are not compared to the pigeon, who, taken miles away from their home can find their way back. We’re not compared to the elephant who can detect low levels of vibration, sensing danger. We’re not even compared to a dog who has heightened senses of smell and hearing. No, we’re compared to sheep. This is a humbling comparison that many rebel against. Pride and self-reliance prevent them from having the nature of a sheep. These people have themselves for shepherds — not the Lord. They seldom doubt their ability and power to accomplish what they intend to accomplish. They believe they can man the helm and steer their course. They show their foolishness by believing they are wise. But, sheep show their wisdom by recognizing they are foolish.

The Lord’s sheep must feel themselves to be sheep. We must feel ourselves to be in need of a shepherd. We must recognize our fallen nature and take our adversary seriously. If it were not for our shepherd we would be devoured. Just as Satan is no match for God, make no mistake, we, apart from God, are no match for Satan. We see this illustrated in Job. Satan says to God, “have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has,” (Job 1:10)? Which of us would be so arrogant and foolish to ask God to remove the hedge around us and take on Satan ourselves? We are sheep; hell-bent wanderers who would step in every snare Satan laid out for us if it were not for God. Like a child in the dark, we must stick out our hand and say, Father, I cannot see. Come, take me by the hand. Even more, take me by the heart and mind. The path is narrow, and it’s lined with thorn bushes. Any child of God who has gone astray knows this. I know I have. I have learned not to go ahead of God. Ouch! One painful moment after the next makes a man stand still. And sticking his hand out he says, lead me, Lord. Lead me in the way I should go.

It is in knowing that we are foolish, dependent creatures that drives us to cling to our shepherd. We lean not on our own understanding. We take refuge in the Lord. We know we are blind and our nature is hell-bent. We run to and rely on the only one who can save us from this body of death. Then, as we follow behind the pillar of fire through the night and he leads us from one victory to the next, we learn to say with the utmost confidence, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want; the Lord is my helper I will not be afraid. Of whom shall I fear?

Reflection

Do you see yourself as a sheep? Do you have the nature of a sheep? Do you have the mind of a sheep? Will you go forward from today boasting only in your weakness? Are you okay not being your own caretaker? Are you okay not having anything of yourself to be confident, boastful, or prideful in? Are you okay being a sheep? It is only an insult to your flesh, and like Paul says, “I strike a blow to my flesh…” (1 Cor. 9:27). Strike a blow to your flesh. Run from the idea that you are anything other than a sheep. Cast down the prideful inclination to be independent. We cannot prove ourselves to have any power. We boast in our weakness. We stand behind the Good Shepherd, and there’s no shame in that, only wisdom. Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer

Lord, thank you for being our shepherd. Thank you for your commitment to protecting us from the evil one. Thank you for being our rock and refuge. Forgive us for the times we’ve tried to stand in our own might and wisdom. And Lord, we’re grateful for every poke and prod that has brought us back to the narrow path. We know you make all things work for our good. We know in love you chasten us, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Your thoughts and ways are higher than ours. You are in heaven and we are on earth. You are the Creator and we are the creation. Come, Lord, and gather us by your might and your wisdom. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

As always, until next time, God willing, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

Spiritual Tip

Think on and speak of your testimony often. Bring to memory what God has done for you in your life. It will help remind you that he is your Good Shepherd.

Exercise Tip of the Week (ETOW)

Work out when you can, work-in when you can’t.

On days you’re really sore, tired, or stressed, don’t force yourself to push through a really challenging workout. That’s how you get injuries. Instead, spend time focusing on breathing, foam rolling, and stretching.