Into His Fold – Isaiah 40:11
“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:11
It’s one of the sweetest, gentlest, most loving verses I’ve ever found in diving ever deeper into the depths of God’s love and Word. The Lord will feed His flock, gather His lambs, and carry them! He will lead those with young. I could rest forever in the repose of these blessed, infinitely precious promises. Oh, to be fed by the Creator of the universe! To be gathered by Him! To be carried by Him! To be led by Him! I imagine climbing like a girl through an open window into another world, away from this one so full of evil – into the everlasting life God has promised those who believe in Jesus. These promises are not so far away as heaven. Nor must a window be climbed through. They come by faith, and trust. They can be had even while we remain on earth by trusting, and abiding in the Lord, His Word, His will. But – But?
But there is something that can keep us from this sweet life He offers us. Feed. Gather. Carry. Lead. We must forsake the world’s ways, our fleshly, wicked ways, our own agendas, and be willing to be fed, gathered, carried, and led. For some of us, especially those who have been abused, abandoned, hurt, broken, who have faced loss beyond measure, tragedy beyond comprehension, trauma beyond belief, who have been injured by the hit-and-run nature of this self-centered world, and for those not so much broken but prideful, ever set in their me-centered ways, we may struggle with the surrender we need as we cling for dear life to trying to protect ourselves from more hurt, as we pride-fully believe we can depend on ourselves, as we fearfully refuse to yield to God, wondering, can we really trust Him? If we would only let go of clutching onto our independence and humbly follow our loving Lord. No matter how much we say we trust Him, and have surrendered, there are always deeper levels of trust and surrender. Oh, To be fed, gathered, carried, and, yes, led.
Trust, Surrender, my friend. Ever deeper. Into His fold.