Sheep Aren’t Load-Bearing Creatures.

Author Generated

One of the most humbling realizations I've had is that sheep are not load-bearing creatures.

Horses carry riders. Oxen pull plows. Camels cross deserts carrying burdens that would crush a man.

Sheep do none of those things.

A sheep was never designed to carry the weight.

Maybe that's why Scripture calls us sheep.

For most of my life, I thought maturity meant becoming stronger, carrying more, needing less help, and figuring everything out on my own. The world applauds the man who carries impossible loads without complaint. The man who never asks for help. The man who grits his teeth and keeps moving.

Yet the longer I walk with Christ, the more I realize that many of my burdens were never mine to carry. ( and man! This is hard to swallow)

Fear.

Control.

Tomorrow.

The opinions of other people.

The outcome of every situation.

The salvation of everyone around me.

The healing of every wound.

The fixing of every problem.

The weight of being enough.

I picked these things up because I thought I was supposed to. I thought carrying them was a strength.

But sheep aren't load-bearing creatures.

When a sheep tries to carry what only the Shepherd can carry, it doesn't become stronger. It becomes exhausted.

No wonder Christ's invitation sounds so strange to the world:

"Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Not more weight.

Rest.

Not another burden.

Rest.

Not another task.

Rest.

The world teaches self-reliance. Christ teaches dependence.

The world says, "Carry more."

Christ says, "Follow Me."

The world says, "Trust yourself."

Christ says, "Trust Me."

And somewhere along the way, many of us have confused spiritual maturity with spiritual self-sufficiency.

But the most mature believers in Scripture were not the ones carrying the most weight. They were the ones most aware of their need for God.

David cried out.

Moses depended.

Paul pleaded.

Christ Himself, in His humanity, withdrew continually to pray to the Father.

Dependence is not weakness.

Dependence is reality.

The sheep that stays close to the Shepherd survives because it understands something the wandering sheep does not.

The Shepherd sees farther.

The Shepherd knows better.

The Shepherd carries what the sheep never could.

Maybe that is why Psalm 23 has become so personal to me.

"The Lord is my Shepherd."

Not my consultant.

Not my life coach.

Not my assistant.

My Shepherd.

The one responsible for leading.

The one responsible for protecting.

The One responsible for providing.

The One responsible for carrying what would crush me.

I still find myself reaching for burdens that don't belong to me.

I still catch myself trying to carry tomorrow before tomorrow arrives.

I still try to solve things Christ has simply asked me to surrender.

But every time I do, I hear the same gentle reminder.

You were never built for that weight.

You are a sheep.

Stay near the Shepherd.

The burden is His.

The obedience is yours.

And strangely, that realization doesn't make me feel smaller.

It makes me feel safe.

TRAVIS KNOWLTON