Sheep
There was a foreign serenity in my soul. I had just come from an encounter with a prayer warrior in Northern India, a woman who has committed her life to intercessory prayer and caring for the spiritual needs of the Indian people. She and her husband came to India on a mission’s trip in 1964 and never left.
Their lives have been sacrificed to The Lord and their home laid at the foot of the Master to be a wellspring for wary souls. It is a humble mountainside home with a rooftop garden and walls lined with books where a beautiful old piano resides. Their doors are always open. Tea and biscuits await anyone who finds their way to their door at any hour.
Sarah Mum is 82 now and has the spirit and health of a 60 year young woman. Now widowed, she maintains her cliff-side home with the assistance of a full time “helper.” Sarah Mum still hikes up and down the mountain path to her home at least once a day, grows plants in her greenhouse and on the rooftop oasis, and has a constant stream of visitors seeking time with her – praying, chatting, and sharing God’s word. She is an exemplary example of how God uses those who selflessly give of themselves to intercede for the lost sheep of our Lord Jesus, our Shepherd. It was so intense to sit at her table over tea and have the wisdom of such a woman poured into me through scripture reading and prayer.
I was transformed by her knowledge and witness. Questions about God and His sovereignty continue to snake their way from the slight opening of my eyes through the corridors of my heart and sit in the pit of my soul. Why so much pain and suffering in the world? Why so much calamity and natural disasters claiming thousands of innocent lives? Why all the corruption and crafty political plotting and contriving for control and power?
Why is it that when the Gospel of Truth is spoken to many that only a few hear? Some believe, but most do not. What is different about those who hear the Gospel, the life changing truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and are transformed, and of those who hear and do nothing?
In John 8:43-44, Jesus states this truth, “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to…the devil…and he is a liar.”
The world, perfectly created a masterpiece by the Master for His children, has been broken and shattered. Zagged cracks of lies by the devil have torn from their hearts the hope of true salvation – salvation in the One True God, Jesus Christ. Their hearts are hardened, their souls crusted over by the forger of lies himself and they cannot hear the truth . . . yet.
The Holy Spirit persistently sharpens the blades that transform hearts, smoking out the lies and releasing them to receive Truth. We must be steadfast as children of the living God who have been given the Tiffany Box of Hearing to intercede in prayer for those still in the fire of hell. We’re called to proclaim, to those whom the Holy Spirit has prepared and are ready to hear, the Truth of Jesus Christ.
I’ll never know how much it cost, to see my sin upon that cross.
Jesus, in his greatness and mercy came to rescue His sheep. The Good Shepherd gave His life for you and for me. Ezekiel 34:12, “As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered.”
Our purpose is to pray for the lost and seek them out. If we are painstaking about this process, we will see souls being saved by the hand of the Mighty Savior. He calls us to a life consecrated to His will, and His heart is that ALL will be saved… not just some.
