needed: shepherds

And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Jeremiah 3:15

People need to be shepherded. I need to be shepherded. I need people who can minister the Word of God to my sheepish heart. I need God’s knowledge and understanding to guide me, to lead me where I should go and protect me where I cannot see dangers lurking. I need God’s Word to be used by God’s people to shepherd me.

I was ordained to gospel ministry in 1988 and have been privileged to serve as a pastor-shepherd for 30 years now. You’d think that in all that experience helping others, I wouldn’t need any help at all. But I do... Oh, how I do. I feel it sometimes so heavy upon me. There are days my confusion, pain, and personal heartache lead to strings of sleepless nights... and that is just from my own personal circumstances, not just the burdens I bear for others. Add their pain to my own, and I would never make it far without good shepherding care.

What God has given me to bear right now I must bear with the help of fellow shepherds. God can use them to minster the guidance of Jesus, our Great Shepherd. How thankful I am not to be alone! How wise is our God to provide this ministry to weary and hurting hearts prone to wander from Him. And Oh how I need to feel it now!