"All we like sheep have gone astray"

This past weekend I went on a Safari. My pictures are below if you want to check them out! We saw elephants (babies included), giraffes, zebra, lions, rhino (more babies included), monitor lizards, baboons, monkeys, wild dog (the second most endangered carnivore in Africa), impala, and the highlight of our trip had to be when we stumbled upon a whole family of cheetah right as the sun was setting. They were less than 20 yards away from our car, FIVE of them—a mom, dad, and three children. Reg, the executive director here in South Africa and my wonderful safari guide for the weekend, said that he had only seen a cheetah family one other time in his entire life. He was in awe (because they’re his favorite animal), and so were we.

We were all amazed, though, not by the cheetahs themselves, but by the God who created them and every other living thing we saw that weekend. Being in the Lord’s creation for three days straight, observing all that He has made for us is one of the best worship experiences you could ever ask for. At the end of our time at the reserve, Reg left us with a little devotional thought from Job. In chapter 38, after Job has endured an enormous amount of suffering and pain, losing everything, his possessions, his children, and almost his own life, he asks God why. Why the suffering? Why the pain? God responds, but not in the way one might think. He doesn’t answer Job’s question directly. Instead he says, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me if you have understanding […] Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place […] Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions?”

Creation is God’s response to suffering. He says, look and SEE—I’ve got the whole world in my hands, so be still and know that I am GOD…That I am the one who sets the boundaries of the sea, causes the rain to come forth, and takes care of the birds of the air, so how much more will I take care of you?

These words from the song “Your Love is Strong” were brought to mind once more.
“Why do I worry, why do I freak out? God knows what I need.”- Jon Foreman

As if that weren’t enough to learn from nature, in class on Tuesday, Reg spoke about the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12-14.

The text reads…

“If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

Reg went on to share with us what a shepherd in Israel actually does when a sheep goes astray. Once he finally finds the lost sheep, he breaks its legs so it can no longer walk. Well, this poses a problem for obvious reasons, but the shepherd is not worried. He takes the sheep up into his arms and holds it over his shoulders as the legs begin to heal. He keeps the sheep this way until its legs are fully recovered, and by that time the sheep has become so accustomed to the smell of the shepherd, it will never depart from him again.

Wow. What a picture of what Jesus does with us when we wander away (as we all so often do). I was holding back a well of tears in the middle of my Life and Teachings Bible class…I must say that I failed to keep them in for the most part.

We serve a God who knows His own. He knows those who are His. Tell me, what other religion can boast of a God like that, who, when we are lost, comes after us, and once we are found, in all our brokenness, takes us up into his arms and holds us close saying,

“I’m not going to let go…not for one second.”