God Directs and Protects

In Isaiah 53:6 I read, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.” (NLT)

God sees everyone as valuable and worth seeking, finding, and saving. The Bible says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV).

But many people are spiritually lost. This means they’re following their own plan for their lives rather than God’s plan.

But what do spiritually lost people actually lose? They lose five things, here are the first two: They lose their direction and their protection.

I can see this in the story of the lost sheep in Luke 15:3-6. It’s about a shepherd who leaves 99 saved sheep to go out and search for the one lost sheep. He doesn’t say, “I’ve got 99 saved sheep, so forget the lost one!” No, they all matter to him. And when he finds the lost sheep, “he joyfully puts it on his shoulders” (Luke 15:5 NIV) and goes home to celebrate.

Like sheep, people who are spiritually lost lose their direction. In fact, all humans are this way. I didn't intend to get lost. I just think, “That grass looks greener over there.” And soon I follow my own way and lose my direction.

The Bible says, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (Isaiah 53:6 NLT). 

Another thing spiritually lost people lose is God’s protection. Like sheep who wander away from their shepherd, I too am vulnerable when I don’t have a shepherd to protect me from the wolves of life. That’s why I need to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, I am alone and defenseless—and I lose God’s protection.

The Bible also says, “My people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd” (Zechariah 10:2 NLT).

But when I place myself under the Good Shepherd’s care, I get direction and protection. This doesn’t mean I will be free from trouble. But it does mean that God will work “all things together for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28 BSB)

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who sees everyone as extremely valuable and “desires all people to be saved.”

In summary, God sees everyone as valuable and worth seeking, finding, and saving. God desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Many are spiritually lost. They’re following their own plan for their lives rather than God’s plan. Spiritually lost people lose five things, here are the first two: They lose their direction and their protection. I can see this in the story of the lost sheep. A shepherd who leaves 99 to go out and search for the one lost sheep. They all matter to him. When he finds the lost sheep, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home to celebrate. Like sheep, people who are spiritually lost lose their direction. All humans are this way.“That grass looks greener over there.” And soon I follow my own way and lose my direction. Another thing spiritually lost people lose is God’s protection. Like sheep who wander away, I too am vulnerable when I don’t have a shepherd to protect me from the wolves of life. That’s why I need to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, I am alone and defenseless—and I lose God’s protection. When I place myself under the Good Shepherd’s care, I get direction and protection. This doesn’t mean I will be free from trouble. But it does mean that God will work “all things together for the good of those who love Him”. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who sees everyone as extremely valuable and “desires all people to be saved.”

Isaiah speaks of Israel straying from God and compares them to wandering sheep. Yet God would send the Messiah to bring them back into the fold. We have the hindsight to see and know the identity of the promised Messiah, who has come and died for our sins. But if we can see all that Jesus did and still reject him, our sin is much greater than that of the ancient Israelites, who could not see what we have seen. Am I still going my own way like a wandering sheep?