The Most Stubborn Sheep
Ransom, my wether (neutered) ram is old and not doing well. He could use a little help from his Shepherdess but it’s hard to convince him of that. I can usually walk up and grab a horn and take him where I want him to be. But not today. Not today.
As I walk towards Ransom, he automatically bolts away as fast as his spindly little legs will let him. I stand and laugh for a moment as I see wool and stick legs hightailing it away from me. Because of his lack of cooperation, I will have to devise a plan to catch him or at least get him into the barn where I can medicate and get some extra food into him.
All the usual things I do to capture him don’t work. So, I walk away for a while and work on some other farm chores I’m now behind on because of 1 stubborn sheep. Throughout the day I keep an eye on Ransom to see if he changes his attitude about getting into the barn where I can help him. He doesn’t.
I guess my sheep are of the mindset they can wear me out if they can just evade me long enough. Maybe they think I will forget what I was doing. Maybe they think I’ll just find someone else to try and “help”. But they are the ones who have forgotten that if this determined Shepherdess needs to get something specific done, it will get done sooner or later.
Finally at the end of the day Ransom goes into the barn on his own. I grab all the essentials I need to work on him, and he quietly waits in the far corner for me — just where I need him to be — as I enter the barn. Is he just tired or does he finally realize I’m trying to help him? He’s probably just tired. Or maybe, just maybe he realizes I mean him no harm. He was born on the farm; he will die here. During all our years together, he’s watched me and possibly finally figured out whatever I do for him is actually for his best. Even when it doesn’t seem like it at the time.
A few minutes later I leave Ransom, satisfied what I did to help him was just what he needed to keep going for a while longer. Time will tell. Time will most surely tell.
As I walk away from Ransom, I realize I still am and have been that 1 stubborn sheep many times in my life. The Good Shepherd approaches me with things that will certainly make my life better, healthier, but since they’re not exactly what I had planned to do at that moment or the way I want to handle things, I automatically run away from what He wants.
Evidently in those times, I am of the mindset I can wear my Good Shepherd out if I can just evade Him long enough. Maybe I even think He will forget what He was doing, find someone else to try and “help”. Foolish sheep that I am.
But this I do know from a life’s worth of experience in His flock: whatever my Good Shepherd has done for me throughout my life has always been for the best and always will be. Even, no especially when it doesn’t seem like it at the time.
Jackie Deems copyright 2023
