Do sheep bite?

[GCTSgcowper]

Day two: Provision. I was amazed that Abu-Jamal cared so much for his sheep that he wouldn’t pass them on to his own flesh and blood. He recognized that his sons didn’t have the heart for the sheep and therefore they didn’t deserve the family business. This certainly shows the high regard Abu-Jamal has for his sheep. At first glance, it’s almost as if he places the sheep above his own boys. Is he not going to take care of his sons? It appears that Abu-Jamal is placing the value of his sheep above our western paradigm; we need to pass on our assets to our heirs. However, there is another side of the coin to consider; the boys are free from doing something for the rest of their lives that they are not passionate about. Therefore, Abu-Jamal is looking after the interests of both his sheep and his sons. If Abu-Jamal is able to find an adequate shepherd, his sheep will not be neglected.
Abu- Jamal had found his shepherd. He was able to identify the sparkle in the eye of Jesse Laniak as someone who could care for his sheep. What does that sparkle look like? His boys didn’t deserve the sheep because they didn’t have that sparkle in the eye. Perhaps it should be said to me “Woe to you� if I don’t care for the flock. At times, I find myself undeserved. Questions of my motives surface; Am I an adequate shepherd? Do I still have the sparkle? Do I have a heart for my sheep? Do I care for my sheep? Do I want to provide for my sheep? An honest answer would be that I do care for the sheep. However, sometimes I get frustrated with the sheep. There are times that my sheep disappoint me. There are times when I find myself in trouble and hurt.
I wonder if Abu-Jamal ever gets frustrated with his sheep. Do real sheep bite? Sometimes my flock bites and it hurts. I think it is my hurt, which causes my troubled times of frustration. As I reflect on 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.� God certainly comforts me in my times of frustration and trouble. It is by his grace that I press on. I need to pass on God’s comfort to those sheep that God has placed under my care because God comforts me.

[skim51]

There's no doubt in my mind that caring for people as a shepherd is one of the most difficult callings in life. You can to care for people holistically. You have to care for people who don't care for you. You also don't get to pick who you get to care for. Most likely you won't even get a say in who you have to work with when caring for people.

I chose to reply to this comment in particular because it raises in the interesting topic of biting sheep. I know that sometimes people can be frustration but at what point are we to say that they are not really sheep? What if they are a threat to you? A threat to your emotional well being as well as physical well being? Are they really a sheep? I asked a fellow pastor a question regarding this one particular family I had difficulty with. That pastor told me that they are not really my sheep if they don't even acknowledge me as a shepherd. I think that conversation brought about a lot of clarity in my decision making because I felt like I was forcing something to work when clearly it was never meant to work. You can't guide those who don't acknowledge you as their shepherd no matter how dedicated you are.