Alan and Mae’s farm was flooded. Muddy water was surging down not only the creek bed, but their driveway too. A lake several feet deep had formed to the right of the house. Thankfully the house itself, the sheep barn and a small stretch of ground between them were slightly higher. The sheep were huddled together on that higher ground, bewildered. The Corps of Engineers reported that the water was expected to rise another 2 to 4 feet. Those sheep needed to be rescued right away!
Alan and Mae and their children had been told to leave their home early that morning for safety reasons, so they were gone. Seeing the danger to Alan’s sheep, concerned neighbors carried the lambs out one by one. They managed to push and prod one old ram to safety too. The rest of the sheep huddled together on that little strip of higher ground, and they were not going to budge.
Picturing those bewildered sheep reminds us of Isaiah 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6): “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” How often we make up our minds that we know how to take care of ourselves, and we are not at all ready to change. God, however, tells us that “there is a way which [seems] right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:1212There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12)).
Once Alan’s family was safe he returned, and he and his neighbors were not going to give up on those sheep. They got a long extension ladder, and with some of them holding it sideways behind the flock and others guarding the ends so the sheep could not run back, they forced the frightened animals to go into the water. But once they were in the water they panicked and dashed in every direction. When they got one big ewe onto a narrow strip of safe ground, she jumped right over it and disappeared in the rushing water. For a moment they were sure she would drown, but she managed to scramble up on some equipment that was only partly underwater. When the other sheep saw her there, they followed her. But that was no place of safety.
With much prodding and coaxing, the sheep were finally herded to a tiny island of green grass where they grazed fitfully for a while. But the rising, swirling water frightened them so much they all made a dash back toward their pasture that was totally under water. It all looked hopeless. Alan and the neighbors felt they had undertaken something they would never be able to complete.
But with God all things are possible!
A major highway ran along one side of the farm. All day people had been stopping to look at the flood waters, taking pictures or offering their help. Now a pickup truck stopped, and a lady got out and came over to the weary group. “Would you like a sheep dog?” she asked.
“Is it a good one?” Alan questioned.
“Well, we run 10,000 sheep on our ranch in Oregon.”
“Then I know it’s a good one!” said Alan happily.
Alan and three other men each caught a ewe and half dragged and half carried them out into the water in front of the other sheep to lead them. Soon that kind lady and her dog were wading through the muddy water. Sometimes she was waist deep, but she didn’t stop. All along the way she instructed her dog. The lady followed the flock with her dog nipping and guiding the sheep. Each time a sheep tried to turn back, the dog would head it off and make it return to the flock. It wasn’t long until every single sheep was in one of the stock trailers that kind neighbors had brought to move them to higher ground.
Alan could hardly believe that someone who had never seen him before would be so willing to give of her time and her skill with her valuable dog. She and her dog got wet, cold and covered with mud to save his flock. She must really love sheep! But I know someone who loves sheep even more. The Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and if we trust Him, “we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:33Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3)). He was willing not just to give an hour, but to give His whole life for His sheep, and not just to get wet and muddy and cold, but to die on Calvary’s cross to save us.
Won’t you trust Him now and let Him lead you to higher ground? “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:46). That’s really higher ground! Wouldn’t you like to be with Him there? His death has made a way for every one of His sheep to be safely led right now and, one day, to share His home in heaven.
ML-06/27/1999