God’s Will – Part 2
Yes, you need to read Part 1 first.
You just can’t write a chicken post without a little video from “The Ladies…” (Also, introducing Hilda, The House Hen. She is a whole other story)
Now that you have read Part 1, you know about Maybelle. You know about her traumatic night and its happy ending. Finishing that post opened up the door for further discussion and left it feeling a little incomplete without that discussion. So, Part 2.
The Manual regularly references the Lost. While it references sheep, we, for the purposes of our illustration, will stick with Maybelle and the Wandering Ladies. Meaning, Lost Chickens. “I have gone astray like a lost sheep (chicken)…” (Psalms 119:176) “My people have been lost sheep (chickens)…” (Jeremiah 50:6) You get the idea.
Towards the end of our discussion, we look at the following quotes from the Manual:
God’s Will is, “Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.” (Jeremiah 7:23)
God’s Will is that “Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.” (1 John 2:6)
God’s Will is that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
God Wills or “wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
Here’s another, “It is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life…” (John 6:40)
These quotes are essential to knowing God’s Will, but, as we have discussed before, The Triune God is a God of action. This God is a God of True Love. Our God is The Great and unrelenting Shepherd.
“…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)
Let’s look at how this ties into our discussion in Part 1. When we went out the evening that Ethel and The Ladies went missing, we searched for hours. It took about 30 minutes to find them in the first few rows of corn. It took only seconds to realize our beloved chicken Ethel was not with them and remained lost. Yes, unlike God, we do have favorites, and Ethel was one of them. Usually, the favoring stance is a personality issue. For example, Sharon is just mean and Ethel was just sweet. But, regardless of this Truth, we would search just as hard for any and every one of our chickens.
When our search started, it was a couple hours before dark, and when we finished, darkness had fallen. As we said, however, when all the searching was over, Ethel remained Lost. As you know, Maybelle was a different story. When the search started, Maybelle was not just Lost, but Lost in the Darkness. Like our previous search, we did not give up…
Stop right there, you said you stopped before finding Ethel?
Yes, I did. An important distinction, thanks for mentioning it.
We did not give up on Ethel. We wanted nothing more than to find her and bring her home safe. To return her to the coop (fold). We wanted this so badly we searched the same area several times. We fought with the looming Darkness to save her. But, in the end, we had to accept that the choice Ethel had made, for whatever reason, put her out of our reach. We could call all we wanted, she either could not hear or refused to move towards us if she did. Whatever the reason, Ethel did not answer our call. Regardless of our “want,” we had to accept the reality of her choice and return to the coop without her.
So… like our previous search, we did not give up. We searched the same areas several times, but this time, we did not expect the movement we had hoped to provoke in Ethel. Because Chickens Can’t See in The Dark, Maybelle would make no bold moves upon hearing our voices. Our plan was to leave no Darkness undisturbed by Light. Our will was that the light would cause Maybelle to move just a little or to at least make a noise. As we made our final sweep in the Dark, we all realized we were coming to a point where we would, once again, have to accept the reality of a Chicken’s choice to wander too far from the safety of the coop. Thankfully, Maybelle had not wandered out of reach. She had not rejected the coop or our care, but simply got Lost in the Dark.
“…this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out. As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock…I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak.” (Ezekiel 34:11,12,16)
The effort we put into finding our Ladies pales incomparably to the effort Christ puts into each and every one of His Lost. He calls, He shines the Light, He moves mountains, and parts the seas. But, unlike Maybelle, we must respond. His call only brings those who will hear back to the coop. His Light will not penetrate the Darkness of the voluntarily blind. He can even part a sea, but if we stand on the beach afraid or too untrusting to walk in, then He must accept our Choice.
Christ actively calls out and we must actively respond… HERE I AM! Christ actively shines His Light out into the Darkness, directly at us, and we must “Look to the Son,” and actively move towards that Light. Christ actively reaches out His hand, and we must actively embrace it. Those who don’t or won’t will remain Lost.
The Good News… Not All Lost Chickens Remain Lost! Those who actively respond are found, carefully picked up as Maybelle was, held securely as Maybelle was, and carried Lovingly back to the coop… as Maybelle was.
© Scott A Caughel 11/6/2020