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The series I just finished posting based on Hinds Feet in High Places offers many glimpses of what it means to follow the Shepherd who is the Christ. Key themes are fear and love. Both are strong emotions within us and not easy to tame and yet it is what He asks us to do. Over and over again we are told not to fear and over and over again life hands us new situations that stir up that very uncertainty that tumbles into fear. We learn that life after the failure to resist temptation in the very beginning in Eden’s Garden, throws us into a dangerous unpredictable environment that we, the relatives of Adam and Eve, have been facing ever since. 

Even when facing a new situation we try to be prepared for we know we are not able to control all the variables and fear tiptoes in begging us to succumb to the obvious path that we ought to be afraid of. We study for an exam and know the material well and yet more often than we wish, questions on the exam throw us a curve ball and we agonize over what the best answer should be. We were so sure of all the material but then…

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We make plans for a special trip we have saved to enjoy. Our bags are packed, tickets are confirmed, and we are on our way when suddenly the flight is delayed with no guarantee when it will take off. Sometimes it is a road trip and along the way we face unforeseen construction, a shift to bad weather, or a tire that runs into debris on the highway and our emotions quickly move from disappointment to anger to fear the trip planned for so many months will not happen or be shortened when we were counting on all those wonderful days.

Sometimes we discover later that those delays or diversions actually protected us from an accident or some other challenge that would have been worse. By then, perhaps we can see God’s provision for us but it isn’t easy. Our hearts were set on this thing.

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Then we are asked (even commanded) to love, to love God and others as much as we love ourselves. Love is not really so much squishy sweet feelings as it is a tough path of caring that we hate to admit isn’t something we do very well at all. We don’t have much of a clue of what it’s supposed to look like and don’t love ourselves as He would have us do in the first place. Oh, yes, we know how to treat ourselves to something we want or like – that ice cream treat is a small expense even though our weight tells us to skip this stop. The sale at our favorite clothing store is one we cannot miss even though it puts us above our budget and we can’t afford that. That person who has been abusive has been sweet the last times we were together so maybe this time things will work out so we set aside facts and get caught up in a bad relationship again.

We may choose to love and determine we will but loving like the Shepherd, the Christ, is not really in us. It isn’t something we can really do. After all, He didn’t just do it, it was who He was and just emanated from his very being. How can we possibly do that?

The Shepherd’s love was not based on convenience, preference, or any of those things that often are how we love. His love is based on sacrifice, inconvenience, and a long list of things that turn us aside from loving. It wasn’t convenient for Him to lay aside heaven to come to earth as a helpless, dependent baby. It wasn’t convenient when He was in agony hanging on a cross to consider the request of a criminal on a cross beside Him and offer Him paradise. But He did that as well. Most of the memorable moments of his life on earth happened as an interruption while He was on his way to somewhere else, at a wedding, or hanging out with friends. Most of us cannot come close to that.

In a recent message our pastor made a statement that has been echoing in my head and heart for weeks. It was this: “Great love always moves first.”

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Great love moved the Christ to move first and offer to die for us so we would be set free from the bad choice in Eden and be able to spend eternity with Him. He knew our condition when He moved out of love for us and knew we would fail Him even after we said we chose Him. His disciple, Peter, was no surprise to Him. He knew he was impetuous, got angry and ahead of himself often. He knew he would betray Him but chose him anyway just like He chose you and me. 

He asks us to love like that and it would be easier if we recognized we cannot possibly do that but if we invite Him into this heart of so many inconsistencies and yield to Him that He will be in and through us what we cannot. That’s what love looks like and it is the only way love can defeat fear and every evil thing set to ensnare us. 

As we pause this week to offer thanksgiving, perhaps it’s time to look at that example when we offer thanks. 

The person who is most thankful for health is the one who has walked through illness and pain. The person who is most thankful for any food set before him or her is the one who has known hunger. The one who most values freedom is the one who was in prison or in a place where they could not enjoy that gift. Thankfulness flows from the heart of one who has been broken, lost, and without hope and discovers it in the most unusual places.

Yes, you need to make a choice to love but that choice needs to include an awareness that you cannot do it well unless He does it in you and transforms you.

He’s eager to do that. After all, “Great love always moves first.”