Rescuing a lamb, rescuing my heart...

While I was in Ireland about a week and a half ago, I went on a sunset adventure. We went to the top of one mountain and climbed to the top of an old fort and watched the sunset, looked at the beauty of the distant mountains, and soaked in the creativity of our Creator. It was breathtaking. It was beautiful. I don't know how to describe such a view and for you to get the picture. Just know that it was beautiful. :) But that is not the purpose of this post. This post is actually about the way down. In Ireland, there are many fields full of sheep grazing on the grass. I jokingly said, "okay, next adventure is to play with the sheep" :) As we drove down the mountain, we noticed 2 little lambs that were out of the fence trying to get back in. One was even stuck between the old fence and the new fence. We all agreed to get out and help the lambs. Here were 3 girls trying to catch lambs, lead them, talk to them, do anything to get them back in the fence. It was probably hilarious if you could have watched us. The first one was actually really easy. She was stuck between the new fence and the old fence so I climbed the gate and went on the other side of her to chase her towards the gate. Once I got her there, then all I had to do was pull on the fence a little bit and she was free. Yay! It was cute to see her run up to her mama for some consoling. Because I had been in the field though, the rest of the sheep had taken off over the hill to run away from me. The other little lamb was still stuck on the outside. We tried the best that we could do to get him to run towards the gate. It didn't work. We thought, maybe if we could get him on the road and off this little hillside, then it would be easier to get him to the gate. Didn't work. We tried with all of our might to be creative. I even found a stick and tried to use it like a shepherd's hook, but that didn't work either. All these things did was scare the little guy and make himself try jumping the fence which led to nothing. But as we watched this little guy try to jump the fence and constantly ram his head into the fence, God's word clearly spoke to us. Many times the Bible refers to us as sheep and Jesus is our Shepherd. We try to do things on our own and don't listen to God's voice. Or maybe we hear God's voice but we think, "okay, we both want to get to the same place but I know my way is so much better". If we just trust our shepherd and believe that He knows what is best and right for our lives, things would be so much easier. As we watched this lamb repeatedly jump into the fence and "baaaaaaing" (if that's even a word) we could almost imagine him saying, "but I just want to get there. Right there with my momma". Yes, we are not shepherds by any means but we just wanted what was best for the lamb. We eventually got the little guy cornered as he was stuck in a bush and grabbed him by the wool and he gave up. He didn't fight us, he didn't wiggle at all, he surrendered and let us bring him back to the gate. This really got me thinking about my life. What has God been trying to teach me or show me and I have been trying to jump the fence instead of trust my Shepherd? As I saw the little lamb being carried, I understood in that moment, God picked me up by my "wool" and started to carry me. God is working on my heart with forgiveness. I see the end place I want to go, the open field, but I have been choosing my own way. I can see how things I have done and even believed would work and still I felt like I was ramming my head into the fence. I had a breakthrough as I watched this lamb. I felt freedom in my heart as I watched this lamb as I understood I have to do what my Shepherd tells me. Even though I may think it will hurt or I think no that way is not the right way, my Shepherd sees more than I can, knows more than I can, and I must trust that He sees the bigger picture. I know I must stop ramming my head into the fence as I try to jump it and just trust God and His plans. Even though it may be the "longer" way around, it is the most satisfying and brings Him the most glory. Thank you God for using even sheep to teach my about my life. Maybe you have something in your life you are experiencing that God is trying to help you through? Maybe you feel like the little lamb and you keep jumping and jumping but get no where? Maybe you feel like you just need to surrender and let God carry you? I don't know where you are in your life, but God does know and He can help you. Surrender and trust and He will be with you every step of the way.