I'd like to share a little about my own life, my own story of walking with the Shepherd, Jesus. I became a follower of Jesus when I was a young child. Just because I was young didn't mean that I didn't need Jesus. Just as a sheep doesn't have to be old to wander away from the sheep fold, so we all are stuck with our own wandering or rebellion against God – sin – right from the start of our lives (Rom. 5:18-19). As soon as we can start going our own way, we do (Isa. 53:6). So even as a young child, I needed what only Jesus could offer (Rom. 5:8). However young or old we are, if we are without the Shepherd, we're wandering off on our own and desperately in need of Jesus to find us. I'm so glad that though I was lost, I have been found by God's grace (Eph. 2:8-9). I rejoice that Jesus became my Shepherd when I was very young and I've had many years to follow him. The path of following him has not always been smooth, but I've got the Lord as my Shepherd to guide me along the way. I'd like to share with you about some experiences that have shaped my life and that God has used to transform my walk with him.

 

The first experience relates to how my own walk with the Lord was influenced by my dad's example. When I was young, my brothers and I would go to church with my mom, but my dad had stopped going to church regularly. We enjoyed going to church, but my dad's example affected our own attitudes so that my brothers and I started to ask if we could stay home on Sundays too. Whether it was our attitudes or something else, my dad started going to church again, but not just "attending." He became very interested in the Bible and what God wants in our lives. He developed a hunger for the truth of God's Word that had a huge impact on me. I found that I also wanted very much to be at church to learn about God from the Bible and so my relationship with God started to grow deeper. Thanks to my father, my walk with my heavenly Father became real to me. I had "tasted that the Lord is good" (1 Pet. 2:2-3) and was on my way to a life of loving and living for God. The Shepherd's provision in my life was clear to me – it was in getting to know God that I was finding peace, joy and hope for a life of living for him. I am grateful for his ongoing provision as I daily seek to trust him with my life.

 

After high school, my desire to understand the Bible took me to a Christian college where I could study the Bible more deeply. But each summer, I kept working at WLD Ranch and began finding that I didn't just enjoy knowing God and understanding his Word, but I enjoyed sharing what I was learning with other people. I found that I didn't want to just absorb truth but I wanted to pass on God's truth to those around me. So I started making plans to become a pastor and went to seminary to begin formal pastoral training. But each summer as I continued to serve at WLD Ranch, God began to show me that WLD is where he wanted me to serve him and where he wanted me to reach others with the truth found in God's Word. So that is where I ended up and I love serving the Lord in this ministry. The Shepherd's guidance in my life has been clear – God has shown me the right path, the path of living for him, loving him, and serving him no matter where I am or what I do. As Psalm 23 reminds us, God’s primary guidance is toward living in a way that is pleasing and honoring to him. But I am blessed not only to get to live for God daily and personally but also to have the opportunity to serve him in a ministry that I love and enjoy.

 

Throughout my life, I have experienced the ups and downs that happen in any relationship, even in a relationship with God. There have been times when I've been distracted from my relationship with God, when I've tried to live on my own strength and when I've put myself first instead of putting Christ first in my life. Every Christian who is honest with himself or herself will admit that it is easy to drift away like sheep go astray. But I'm so glad that God does not abandon us at those moments, that God continues to be at work in our lives and to gently nudge us back toward the safe and satisfying place of walking close to him. Sometimes we can be persistent in our wandering and it breaks his heart to see us wandering into the dangers of sin and self-pride. Sometimes he will put challenges in our lives either to wake us up and get us back on the right path or to push us into an even greater and deeper level of following him. When Ethan was just a few weeks old, I feel God gave Christy and me a push toward a deeper level of trusting him on a daily basis. I wouldn't say we had wandered from the path of following him. I just think God was ready for us to walk even closer to him than we ever had.

 

When Ethan was 6 weeks old, he developed double pneumonia and stopped breathing. Looking back, we can see God's hand in so many things that happened in those moments and in the weeks to follow that were God's ways of reminding us to trust him. Ethan stopped breathing at the doctor's office and there were experienced nurses and our doctor there to revive him and keep him alive until the life-support team arrived with the ambulance. The weeks in the hospital as Ethan went through the recovery process were filled with amazing reminders of God's love and care and protection. Hundreds and hundreds of people were praying for us, sending us notes of encouragement, or stopping by to support us. Through this experience, we came to accept that God would take care of us and that we could trust him, even if Ethan would have died. We came to the point of being willing to accept God's will in our lives and in Ethan's life, even if it was not what we would have wanted.

 

The Shepherd's protection was very clear to us – we were grateful that Ethan lived and recovered completely, but we also found that God's protection is not just about physical safety. His care and protection in our lives is all about being at work in our hearts even in the midst of the worst of life's experiences. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me" (Psalm 23:4). Through this experience, we found that God's goodness and love truly are following us forever (Psalm 23:6) and we can trust him completely no matter what life may bring. Christy's and my theme verse became Habakkuk 3:18-19 (which I am paraphrasing here): "I will continue to rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the God who saves me. The Sovereign Lord is my strength. He enables me and makes me as sure-footed and nimble as a deer on rocky high places. He enables me and gives me stability through it all." I pray that I will continue to trust and walk closely with my Shepherd all the days of my life.

 

What about you? God challenges each of us to walk closely with Jesus, our Shepherd. Take a minute to evaluate your own life. If you have begun a relationship with Jesus, how has your walk with the Shepherd been? How have you seen God at work in your life? How have you pursued him (Psalm 42:1)? Are you growing in your trust and seeking to walk closer to him? I pray that the things I've shared with you about Psalm 23 and about my life will be an encouragement and challenge to you to walk closely with our Shepherd all the days of your life.

(Hey, thanks to those of you that read through this. The 4 part series on A Shepherd's Care for His Sheep has been a fun study to put together but also a challenging one as I thought about my own walk with the Lord. I hope it has been an encouragement to you in your walk with the Lord. If it was, I'd love to hear from you. Also, you are welcome to request the complete "Shepherd's Care for His Sheep" series as a pdf ebooklet. Email me at joseph@wldranch.com.)