For Just One...
I felt like the Lord placed it on my heart to write this particular post but was unsure until I opened my Bible and read this verse. Then I knew the prompting was from the Lord.
For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. Ezekiel 34:11
I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. Ezekiel 34:16
It was true in Ezekiel’s day and it’s still true today. The Good Shepherd really will search out one lost sheep.
So most of you know my story - walked in on my (ex) policeman (ex) husband molesting our daughter, instantly became a single mom, life fell apart and God put it back together again. But very few know this part of it. And this part well…its just as much a miracle if not more than everything else. After I walked in on Jason I felt like my life had instantly been ripped from beneath my feet but one of the very hardest parts was that I literally went to bed that night blissfully, happily married and woke up to a divorce. I guess in a way it was similar to someone losing a spouse in a car wreck, unexpected and instantaneous only I didn’t have the luxury of enjoying the past memories and good times. It was all…just…gone. That said one of the thoughts that continually resurfaced was did Jason know the Lord? Could he possibly have known the Lord? He said he did but how could someone who knew Jesus do something like that. And if he didn't know Jesus…
I wanted to do something that would bring Jason to the arms of the Lord. Even if I could do nothing personally I wanted to somehow make a difference. To at least try. There was man, an ex-gang member, that Jason had worked with when he was a cook at Red Lobster back in college. This man was the real deal. He had miraculously survived a stab wound and given his life to the Lord. Never to return. The old really had passed away and he truly was a new creation in Christ. Jason had spoken of him many times over the years. He told me this man was the primary reason that he had ever trusted in Jesus. If anyone one could make an impact on Jason it would be him. But how could I reach him? I didn’t even know his name.
It was a cold winter day when I came home to a backyard filled with water and a busted pipe. Unsure of who to call. (a plumber but which one?) I went through the contacts on my phone. They had been the same ones my husband had - over a thousand names (literally) most of whom I didn’t know and many who were involved in some aspect of construction or home repair. My ex had been in property management and owned a spray foam company for a brief stint before becoming a policeman. I searched for names with “plumber” attached to the end of them and called. Around 10pm I got a return phone call. I honestly don’t remember if he was a plumber or someone I had called by accident. What I do remember is that I was folding laundry and trying to get things wrapped up for the night so I could go to bed and the man just kept talking. It was the oddest thing. He wasn’t flirting or trying to get hired to fix the broken pipe just wouldn’t stop talking. I learned he had worked with my ex-husband at Red Lobster back when they were in college. Instantly I knew it was the Lord. I asked him about the man Jason had spoken of so often. He didn’t know much but he could give me a name. Later I went to work on Facebook trying to reach the one man I thought maybe, just maybe, could turn Jason to the Lord and save his soul. I couldn’t find him but I did locate his parents who put me in touch with him. He lived in the country and didn't have Facebook, Internet access or even television. I told him my story and that Jason was in our local jail. It was a two hour drive for him but he made the drive many times. I asked him not to reveal to Jason who had sent him for fear this might hinder Jason’s receptiveness to him. We only spoke a few more times and never met in person but I knew he was sent by God if not for Jason’s soul for my own. For it is not His will that ANY would perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
After everything came out in the news well-meaning people would relay to me all the horrible things they felt (and hoped) would happen to Jason in prison somehow thinking this was helpful. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I think the key to healing from every hurt is forgiveness. Anger gives a foothold to the devil. (Ephesians 4:27) Vengeance is God’s. (Romans 12:19) We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. (Matthew 5:44)
I am in awe every time I think about just how far God will go for just one of His lost sheep. The broken pipe. The strange phone call. The connection, introduction by God himself to a man whose location and even name were unknown is…well…nothing short of miraculous.
For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. Ezekiel 34:11
