My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-28 NIV).

Last week we experienced in the Portland/Vancouver area, the second heaviest snowfall in one day. I enjoyed watching the fat, lacy snowflakes fall all afternoon and blanket our world.

The storm reminded me of a snowstorm I was in years ago when climbing Mt. Hood.

Our climb leaders  carefully watched the weather, knowing that later in the day a storm was coming. Just the year before, a school climb on the mountain turned into disaster with lives lost. That disaster always forefront on their minds, our leaders Larry and Vern wanted us to get to the top as quickly as possible. Towards the top, we were in a white-out. The fierce wind hit our faces and in spite of the warm layered clothing, we were buffeted, beaten by the furious gale, were freezing cold. As we struggled, the four climbers and two leaders, roped together–us against the wind and blowing snow–we climbed the “chute”– a straight-up entrance to the summit.  “Congratulations,” the two leaders shouted against the noisy wind, “You made it to the top! Turn around, we’re going down!” No lounging, and enjoying the panoramic view as I would experience in later climbs. This time, we turned around and quickly descended. The climb down was a blur. I was so relieved it was nearly over. I didn’t care that I didn’t see anything. I was just glad the climb was over, reminding me of labor when having a baby. Down, and safe, we celebrated with huckleberry pie and coffee at Government Camp.

My mother wrote of a time in northeastern Montana where she and my uncle were caught in a terrible blizzard, walking home from school. She tells how they were fine, walking along the road, following the fence posts, but when they crossed the field to take a short cut home, there was no longer the fence to guide them and they quickly became disoriented and lost. Mom describes the blizzard:

The snow beat into our faces and almost took our breath away. We remembered what our parents had told us to do if we ever became lost in a snowstorm: hold hands and keep moving. They did hold hands, but when they seemed to be lost, they became afraid and then they remembered the rest of the instructions: pray when we were in trouble and trust the Lord.

Right then, they stopped and prayed, “Heavenly Father, we are lost, please help us get home.” In her own words are the following:

I pulled my scarf over my nose and mouth, but still the sharp snow painfully drifted against my numb face and my stiff and freezing fingers. Then suddenly I thought I heard a voice. For a moment, my brother and I stopped walking on the crunching snow to listen. We waited and listened again; but hearing nothing, we began walking again. Then my brother heard it and we stopped to listen. Again, a voice came faintly, “Arnold, Rose, can you hear me?” Muffled with the whistling of the wind came snatches that scarcely sounded like our names.

Removing the scarves from our mouths, we yelled out loudly as possible, “We’re here! This is Arnold and Rose. Where are you?”

We strained our eyes for a glimmer of light through the dense white snow and uncovered our ears for the sound of her voice. Finally, we spied the faint light and hurriedly ran toward it. Soon we were joined with her and in her arms, when she said, “Thank you, Lord, now please help us to go home the rest of the way.”

They made it back to the farm in about thirty minutes. With relief, re-told the story around a warm fire and a hot meal.

Our pastor is taking us through the gospel of John and I’ve been impressed how often Jesus talked about his followers as sheep and that he was the shepherd.

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice…Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep…I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep..I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd (John 10: 1-16).

If you are a follower of Jesus, then you are the sheep. He is the shepherd. The good shepherd. I love it that Jesus cares about us. He even laid down his life for us. We know him by his voice just as my mother heard and knew her mother’s voice. What a gift!

If you don’t recognize that voice of the shepherd, I urge you, in the snowstorms of our lives where things seems so topsy turvy, to trust in the Good Shepherd. He’s there, waiting for you.

 

Get these Blog posts emailed directly to you.