The Shepherd Knows

Friday night Sheila Walsh took center stage at the Women of Faith Conference and talked about God's love for broken people. One story that she told touched me deeply.

She had been admitted to the psyche ward of a hospital with severe clinical depression. She didn't get in bed that first night. She took the blanket off the bed, wrapped herself in it, and sat on the floor in the corner of the room. Early in the morning (around 3 or 4 a.m.) she heard someone enter the room. She thought it was someone doing a routine check as they had been since she had arrived. However, this person walked into the room and came toward her until he was standing before her with his toes touching hers. He handed her a stuffed lamb like one you would give a child. He turned and walked toward the door. He stopped as he was about to leave and said to her, "The Shepherd knows where to find you."

I cried.

His words to her were exactly what I needed to hear.

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When she said, "The Shepherd knows where to find you," snippets from my past flashed through my mind . . . the story of "The Little Lost Lamb" from a favorite childhood storybook . . . The Parable of the Lost Sheep from Luke 15 . . .  The Good Shepherd of John 10 . . . how the Good Shepherd knows His sheep. The last few weeks have been stressful and I have been feeling overwhelmed, alone, and lost in some big decisions that need to be made. I have been feeling like the little lost sheep. When she said, "The Shepherd knows where to find you," an overwhelming sense of the presence of God and His profound love flooded over me.