God will never give up on us

By: Carole L. Haines

How would you like to know that whenever you are lost, you’ll be searched for and found? Well, that’s our God, it is how He describes Himself. Let’s read on:

¹¹ “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I Myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 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 on a day of clouds and darkness. ¹³ I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. ¹⁴ I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I Myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. (Ezekiel 34:11-16 NIV)

Wow, what a list of God’s loving care for His people. God searches for us, rescues us, looks after us. He brings us out, gathers us and tends us. God pastures us.  This passage sounds so much Like our beloved Psalm 23.  I especially love this description of God:

¹⁵ I Myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.

Just imagine God binding up your wounds, perhaps infected and festering wounds of the past. Yet our God is not put off by the stench or mess of these injuries. He doesn’t recoil at the sight of our desperate situations. He reaches down and cleanses our wounds with His Word, healing them in the Spirit, binding them in the soft cloth of His love. When we feel especially weak in an area, God strengthens us. He gives us exactly the right spiritual exercises to make us strong in those areas. What and awesome, loving and powerful God we have. Let’s praise Him for His Precious care for us.

O Holy Father, Jesus our Savior, Holy Spirit, our Protector; Thank You for your amazing love and care. Thank you for pursuing us relentlessly and never giving up on us, even when we feel like giving up on ourselves. Nothing is too difficult for you, O God of the impossible. We offer You our lives in gratitude, praise and honor. Guide us to yield to Your ever-caring hand of Grace.

In Jesus’ Name…Amen