Ending the Year In the Arms of my Shepherd

This year as I read through the Christmas story I find myself most resonating with the Shepherds. Like them, I am wrangling disobedient, stubborn, anxious, and sassy sheep (well… can sheep be sassy?). Like them I’m up at weird hours, constantly problem-solving, and eating cold leftovers on the road.

And like the shepherds I am in need every day to be told the good news of Jesus. I won’t be getting a sky filled with a heavenly choir, but I do have God’s Word and the Holy Spirit with me continually reminding me that though I was dead in my sin, I have been made alive with Christ! That though my sin is heinous, it has been miraculously forgiven. That somehow, for some reason only known to God, he loves me and even likes me!

The last couple months of 2022 have caused me to take out my staff and fight off enemies of anxiety, exhaustion, and pride. Mostly they are caught up with parenting and the never-ending struggles of trying to raise four daughters to know and love Christ. When the growth is slow or even slides backward, I “beat myself up” as though God ever expected me to carry this weight. My mind goes to doom and gloom as though God isn’t in control. I push my body too far as though God is a slave driver and hasn’t invited me into his rest.

My counselor recently compared parenting to a rushing river. I’m over here trying to control it… with the latest parenting trick or what I think I should be doing or what I see my friends trying… but I’m working as though I’ve got a stagnant pool in my living room that with the right tools I can have cleaned up by dinner. When really the raging river is completely out of my control. Only God can direct it, only God can shore up the banks, and only God can cause the river to do what He intends for it to do.

Yes, he asks me to “work at parenting”. But the work is more about trusting, relinquishing, and resting.

Oh man… I have so many things I want to leave behind in 2022. Some of my sin patterns have really weighed me down this fall, and for all the effort I’ve expended, the rushing river has only picked up steam.

So, as we close out this year and look ahead to 2023, I want to walk forward more like the shepherds who were the first to receive the good news of Jesus’ birth. I want to be faithful and alert. I want to draw near to my sheep rather than run away in frustration. I want to have ears and a heart that are ready for his message of grace to be proclaimed to me every day.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

Luke 2:8-17

When I think about the shepherds, their flocks, and my own role as a mother… I can’t help but be grateful that the buck doesn’t end with me. For all my parenting, praying, strategizing, family-meeting-setting, chore assigning, disciplining, etc. God is the one with the final say over each of their lives. He has called me to love him first of all. Then to love my neighbors (which includes my family!). Loving them according to Scripture, and as faithfully as I can. But he doesn’t expect me to change their hearts, tame their tongues, slow their anger, or redirect our rushing river. That is the work only the Holy Spirit can do.

God wants me to rest in the arms of my Good Shepherd. He wants me to trust in his everlasting love and believe that his arms will never tire of holding me.

I’ve listened to a lot of Elisabeth Elliott this fall, and I love that she always ended her radio programs the same way:

“You are loved with an everlasting love, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”

Elisabeth Elliott

She got this phrase from two scriptures:

• “the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” (Jeremiah 31:3)
• “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27a) 

And I want to leave you with that image this year. The image of the ultimate Shepherd carrying us (his messy, stubborn sheep) in his strong and loving arms.

How are you feeling as you finish up 2022 and look ahead at the New Year? I’d love to hear from you if you want to send me an email or answer in the comments below.

Merry Christmas to you,

Love, m