From Scouting the Divine
In reference to the geese in the barn...
I remembered that they were constantly walking around.
"What are they looking for?" I asked Lynne.
"They're looking for their eggs," she said.
"Where are they?" I asked.
"I threw them in the creek," she said.
My eyes bugged in disbelief. "Why?" Lynne's actions seemed cold and cruel- a far cry from the woman who loved her sheep.
"Because they were infertile," she said. "They will never hatch. I need to get these geese back to their regular life. For three months they've been sitting on infertile eggs. The only way to get them back to the way they're supposed to be living is to take away their dead eggs."
Her answer helped me understand her action as one of compassion and wisdom. I couldn't help but wonder how often I have sat on dreams that were never going to come to fruition or, worse, sat on the empty promises of the enemy that would never yield life- only self-destruction and death.
As I thought back to the numerous times where God has been faithful to remind me, "It's time to get back to the life I've given you," I recognized that this painful lesson isn't something I learn only once and move on... I will need to process, apply, refine, and reapply again and again the truth of what it means to live under the guidance of the Good Shepherd.
