Unworthy Shepherds

Jeremiah 50:6 (HCSB)

      My people are lost sheep;

      their shepherds have led them astray,

      guiding them the wrong way in the mountains.

      They have wandered from mountain to hill;

      they have forgotten their resting place.

 

Breakthrough! But I don’t like it, because it refers to me… to my kind… to shepherds. These are not good shepherds. They led the people astray. I do not know if they deliberately led them astray. They were probably just lost themselves. In their arrogance they did not know the way but they would not admit their mistake. Instead, like a man driving a car they refused to pull over and ask directions. They kept going, getting further and further away from their “resting place.”

 

What is this “resting place”? It is the Lord! He is our resting place. When we put our trust in Him there is peace. When we try to figure things out ourselves and trust in our own abilities we get into trouble. Part of that trouble is anxiety—the opposite of rest. Once we start down that road of relying on our own resources to find our way and solve our problems we have to keep thinking and striving to covers our mistakes, and then we have to keep thinking and striving to cover those mistakes, and then we have to…. Get the picture? It’s a vicious cycle that gets us lost on the outside and knotted up on the inside.

 

The alternative is to obey God and trust Him. I heard Charles Stanley say once, “When we obey God He is responsible for the consequences of our obedience.” I’ve not forgotten that. The Chief Shepherd never gets lost. As long as we follow Him we can lie down in safety and not be afraid. The way may not be easy, but we have His peace on the inside. We also have His promise that, whatever we face along the path, He will supply us what we need to push through.