Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure… James 4:8 (NCV)
While visiting a large church in Canada not long ago, we watched from the balcony a little four-year-old girl running through the bookstore below. She had on this big pink parka with the hood pulled tightly over her head. Her mother had a harness strapped to her back with a leash attached to it. While Mom was absorbed in the jacket cover of a book, the little pink lady managed to slip away. She was having a ball streaking from shelf to shelf picking up a book here and a CD there.
Her mother had rebuked her several times for running and messing with things she had no business touching. As she rounded one shelf in a full trot, her mother stepped on the leash. BAM! She hit the floor like a sack of potatoes right on her tail. She sat there bewildered for a minute… then she slowly picked herself up. Immediately, she resumed her wanderings; however, this time she would run and suddenly stop as if remembering the pain in her tail-bone. Then she would look over her shoulder to see if Mom was close by before she picked up any more contraband. When Mom wasn’t looking, she would take off as wildly as ever.
A few weeks ago, God stepped on my leash and broke my tail-bone. He put a stop to my “busy-ness.” I have been like the little girl in the pink parka running to and fro from one book to another… one tape to another in search of the abundant life. Like the little pink lady, my search has been unending and my thirst unquenchable. No book, or tape, or seminar could satisfy the longing for joy, peace, and contentment in my soul.
I have been acting like a child in some ways… the bad ways. I have been selfish and self-centered. I have been searching for things to fill this hole in my heart in all the wrong places. Every once in a while, God would tug on my leash, and I would slow down a little only to speed up once again faster than ever.
Finally, when God stepped on my leash, I fell so hard I couldn’t get up. I broke my spiritual tail-bone. Broken tail-bones take a long time to heal. I felt like the persistently wandering sheep that keeps straying away from the flock. Much rod-prodding by the shepherd of the flock does little to curb his curiosity and penchant for wandering. As a last resort, the shepherd breaks one of the wayward sheep’s legs. With a broken leg, he cannot wander off. He is immobile and helpless… absolutely dependent upon the shepherd for everything. The shepherd then lifts the crippled sheep onto his shoulders and carries him everywhere he goes.
After a few weeks of riding first class, the broken sheep begins to notice that the shepherd knows some stuff. He knows where the greenest pastures grow and the quietest waters flow. And since he is clinging to his master, the frail sheep is the first to enjoy the feast the shepherd prepares. He also has the benefit of never having to worry about coyotes and mountain lions because the shepherd’s rod and staff protect him.
Before long the sheep is healed and ready to walk on his own again, but now he hates to leave the shepherd’s presence. He finds that all he used to chase after was right there with the shepherd all the time.
Brokenness is a blessing. Pain is a love gift from the Lord, our Good Shepherd. If the Lord is jerking your chain, don’t make Him break your tail-bone. Take it from a crippled lamb, all you are looking for, He is. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you. If you don’t, you will find life can be a pain in the tail!
Blessings,
Kenny
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