JUST LIKE SHEEP
Kendra Intihar
Today's Scripture: “God answered, ‘I will be with you.’” Exodus 3:12a, NLT
Theme: Confidence comes from knowing that God has sent me, and He will be with me as I go.
I’M BATMAN
Just this week, my littlest, who is in preschool, got out of bed and approached me, asking for a glass of water. I indulged him in a tiny sip and then sent him back to bed. Then he came to me and said, “I need an ice pack for my boo-boo.” Upon inspection, it was clear that there was no “boo-boo,” so again, I sent him back to bed. Then he came to me and said, “I can’t go to sleep anymore because I don’t like to go to sleep.” I told him sleep was important so he could grow and sent him back to bed. Finally, he put on his hooded Batman cape, came out to me, and said, “Batman doesn’t sleep at night.”
“But it’s bedtime,” I said.
“Well, Batman doesn’t go to bed early,” he replied.
“But you’re Grant, and Grant does have to go to bed,” I said, too exhausted to play along properly.
“But I’m both,” he attempted.
“You’re both, but Grant has to go to bed.”
“But Batman doesn’t,” he tried one last time.
I stood up, took his sweet, tiny, squishy hand, led him to bed, and covered him up with his blanket. He hadn’t wanted to go, but even though it exasperated me, he finally did.
ARGUING WITH A BUSH
As I was reading Exodus, chapters three and four this week, I was struck by how very much Moses’ encounter with God reminded me of my own contrary little boy. When the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush on Mount Horeb in Exodus 3, Moses wasn’t terribly quick to obey. You may recall that instead of doing what the Lord commanded, Moses proceeded to have a conversation with God about all the reasons he couldn’t do what the Lord had commanded him to do. Imagine the audacity of hearing the God of your ancestors speak to you from a bush. and then feeling like the rational thing to do was to have an argument with the bush!
Have you ever had a conversation with someone who you suspect could sustain a disagreement with a bush? I have. He once tried to convince me he was Batman.
SHEPHERDS AND SHEEP
Moses had become a shepherd in Midian, so he was intimately familiar with the habits of sheep. Sheep are not very smart, but the one thing they get absolutely right is that they listen to their shepherd’s voice. At the shepherd’s command, they move. At the shepherd’s command, they turn. They trust their shepherd. “When he has brought out all his own [sheep], he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice” (John 10:4, NIV).
The sheep, shepherd, pasture, and provision metaphors are all over the pages of Scripture. Jesus loved the imagery of the sheep and shepherd and calls Himself “the Good Shepherd.” The Lord wants us to be so confident in His guidance that we, like sheep, follow Him no matter what.
LEARNING TO LISTEN
Eventually, Moses obeyed, and over time, Moses learned to listen to God and God proved that His assignments could be trusted. Moses learned that whenever and wherever God told him to go, he could go with confidence because the Lord had never left him and never would.
Make it personal: Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27, NIV). The Lord doesn’t merely send us out; He goes with us! When we learn to hear His voice, we can follow Him in confidence because we know that wherever He leads us, He is leading us there for His purposes and for our good. As you think about where God is leading you, remember that He has never let you down.
Pray: Lord, show me how to hear You, trust You, and follow You with confidence. Thank You for Your gentle correction and Your disposition of love toward me, even when I hesitate to listen. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Read: Deuteronomy 31:6-8; Proverbs 14:26; Matthew 6:25-26
Weekly Memory Verse: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1, ESV