Beyond The Search

For this is what the Sovereign Lord says, I Myself will serach for My sheep and look after them.  Ezekiel 34:11

This past Wednesday night at Bible Study we learned about why Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd and the Gate. We looked at the practices of ancient shepherds, which some places in the Middle East are still practiced today. Then, I was dusting and picked up a plague of the paw of Buzzy one of our Bassets that passed away in April of 2010. My mind went back to the night he died. He was perfectly healthy or so we thought earliler that evening. He began with panting heavily, then began to drool exxcessivly. He was uncomfortable, he couldn’t lay down or sit up and just kept getting weaker. I knew I had to get him to the vet, and the only one open at 11:30 on a Sunday night was 30 minutes away! We arrived to find out he was in congestive heart failure, and with me sitting by his side, he peacefully passed away. They made his paw print and prepared him to be buried on the farm. Needless to say it was a long ride home, and while preparing the tractor that night to dig his grave, we could hear the cry of a sheep.

While Buzzy was being buried, I kept hearing that same cry. The property next door has a barn and sheep on it and the owner has a caretaker that comes from time to time. I commented on it and I was reassured by my family everything was ok. But since Harvey, Buzzy’s brother wouldn’t go outside alone I went outside often and kept hearing this pitiful cry. That evening a caring friend came to check on me. As we were sitting outside with Harvey, I couldn’t stand the cry anymore and I recruited her to join me in the search for this distressed animal. So off we went following the fence line towards the cry. As we got closer, we heard a second weaker cry answering. Sure enough, over the hill there was a goat with its head and horns stuck through the fence and her baby standing by her, free but still helpless. As we approached she began to struggle, so we spoke softly and got down gently touching her head and speaking in a calm voice. It took awhile, but she stopped fighting us and we finally got her free. Her and her baby who stayed by her side the entire time, began to run off in freedom. Then she stopped, turned around and shook her ears as if to say think you.

As we walked back to the house,my friend looked at me and said, “I came to comfort you, but I recieved comfort too. I see how God can use something bad to accomplish something good. And now I also feel better, because I helped set a helpless momma goat and her baby free.” Both of us learned a lessons that evening, God used the cries of that goat to get me to come out of my grief and not only hear but search for the cries of another who needed help. In the process of seeking God spoke to my heart and brought healing and he spoke to my friend, who needed encouragement that He can use even something bad have a purpose to bring about something good. We also could see his protection, because there are cayotes and other preditors in the area that could have killed that helpless animal and her baby.

Maybe you might be thinking God doesn’t hear your cries, but He does and He wants to help you, because He is the our Shepherd, He’ll help you reach out to Him and be set free of whatever has you entangled and in turn, then you also can help others. Let Him help you today. As a side note, that goat, from time to time when she would see me she’d come over to the fence and lick my hand, along with her baby. What a wonderful reminder of God’s and how grateful we should be for His never ending love !