Every Friday I join a community of bloggers for Five Minute Friday. One word prompt, five minutes. Unedited. The prompt this week is … Wander.
The word brings to mind God’s people who wandered in the wilderness for forty years before arriving at their destination.
Wander can be defined as going about aimlessly or on an indirect route. It has no purpose and the destination is uncertain. There is no estimated time of arrival as one has no idea how long they will be wandering.
“The Lord was angry with Israel and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that sinned in the Lord’s sight had died.”
(Numbers 32:13, NLT)
At times, our wandering is our own fault, caused by our own stubbornness, rebellion, or disobedience. The Lord lets us go on the journey aimlessly, without purpose, so that perhaps we would come to our senses and seek Him.
“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.” (Isaiah 53:8, NLT)
We’ve all done it. We’re sheep who just resist following the Shepherd. We refuse to believe He knows the best path for our lives.
“God has not abandoned us any more than He abandoned Job. He never abandons anyone on whom He has set His love; nor does Christ, the Good Shepherd, ever lose track of His sheep.” (J.J. Packer)
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”
(Matthew 18:12-14, NLT)
We’re sheep who wander.
Our Shepherd will always pursue us and bring us back to Himself,
restoring purpose and life.
Photo by Riccardo Gazzin on Unsplash
Today I am joining …
I am working on a devotional book for Advent featuring carols, so my first thought is “I wonder as I wander,” and you’ve given us some good things to chew on as we wonder AND wander.
I like that – “we wonder and wander”. Sometimes I wonder why we wander 🙂
I’m so thankful for this truth, Joanne, “We’re sheep who wander. Our Shepherd will always pursue us and bring us back to Himself, restoring purpose and life.” Thanks for sharing the Packer quote.
How comforting to know that no matter how far we wander, our Shepherd is there to gather us back to him when. Even when we don’t know the path home.
Theresa, yes, especially when we don’t know the path home. He is so faithful and loving.
There are definitely two sides to wander…. our wanderings have brought great wonder to our souls!
Wandering just like a sheep
asking myself if
I can walk while still asleep…
will I wander off a cliff?
Wandering just like a goat
looking for a meal
that will cause me belly-bloat,
but what the heck, I’ll heal.
Wandering just like a man
who’d rather not pay toll;
worried more about my tan
than my immortal soul.
Wandering, a real cool cat
whom God yet loves; now why is that?
Hi Joanne,
There are some I love who have wandered and it comforts me to know He is never far off–that instead, He pursues the one.
Peace and grace,
Tammy
Amen, Tammy. Praying for our Shepherd to be pursuing each one.
Wonderful post Ms. Joanne. Loved your perspective ma’am. Thank you!
I appreciate that you always encourage, J.D.
Love your thoughts on wandering, Joanne. I know I am grateful my Good Shepherd always comes to find me!
Donna, as I wrote my post, in that five minutes, I realized how indebted and grateful I am that He pursued me.
Encouraging post.
Thanks for sharing.