Saints, Sheep, and Shepherds

Following on the heels of last month’s review of Faithful Feet, this month I’d like to focus on saints, sheep, and shepherds.

I have often been inspired to reflect upon the faithful heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11.

Michelle S. Lazurek commemorates many of those saintly souls in her children’s book Hall of Faith. She shares the stories of heroes like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab, all of whom stepped out in faith and trusted God with their lives and with their futures.

At first, some of those saints weren’t so saintly. They questioned God. They questioned themselves. They laughed at God’s promises. Some even laughed at God’s laws.

Wow! Doesn’t this sound like some of us today?

Over time, these saintly heroes learned to trust God and obey His will.

Moses spoke in spite of his stuttering, David overcame his fear, and Rahab turned away from a profession of ill repute.

“These people had faith even though people made fun of them. They defeated armies, risked their lives, fought for justice, and went where God told them to because they believed God can be trusted. They had hope that God would do the biggest thing He promised: send a Savior to rescue His people!”

Like stubborn sheep, they sometimes wandered, they did their own thing, they were momentarily lost; but they eventually became heroes who trusted God and carried out His will.

Speaking of sheep, Hannah E. Harrison’s book The Good Shepherd and the Stubborn Sheep captures the similarities between us humans, who need to trust God, and George, a sheep who needs to trust his shepherd.

George admits he needs a shepherd to help him take care of himself. In fact, George knows he’s “completely defenseless.”

However, when his shepherd wants to give him a haircut, George decides he doesn’t want one or need one. He runs away and hides from his shepherd.

What do you think happens next? His long hair gets stuck in a thornbush. He is confronted by a wolf. He rolls into a pond and can’t swim. He gets scared of the dark. He’s lost without his shepherd!

But then George’s good shepherd saves the day.

“I couldn’t believe it!
I hadn’t listened.
I’d run away.
And still, he rescued me!”

How often do we, like stubborn sheep, want to do things our own way? We forget how much we need the Good Shepherd!

Even though we don’t listen to Him and often run from Him, He rescues us and brings us back to the fold.

 The Parable of the Lost Sheep is one of my favorite Bible stories—primarily because of a visual presentation I saw as a child. My church hosted a “performance artist” who brought this story to life in front of my eyes. I was amazed as he told the story while depicting his images on a life-size screen behind him.

While he created his picture, the song “The Ninety and Nine” played in the background.

“There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold—
Away on the mountains wild and bare,
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.”– Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane (1868)

From a child’s point of view, this story board was bigger than life and became imbedded in my brain.

I must be a visual learner because these two picture books, while meant for children, speak to me as an adult today. I give them both five stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We may hesitate like Moses, we may doubt like David, we may be stubborn like George and do things our own way. But when we trust in God, he will work wonders in our lives!

Like a sheep that wanders, if we have faith in the Good Shepherd, we can share eternity with the saints.

“Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.”—Helen Keller

“There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.”—St. Augustine

“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.”—Stendhal

Hebrews 11:1; Proverbs 2:8; Psalm 23; Romans 10:17; Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:3-7