STANDING IN THE GAP

Dedication: I dedicate this posting to my wonderful grandfather John L. LeMay, whose last words on this Earth were Psalms 23

                               The Valley

   On this day, one of God's anointed was travelling through the valley of death with his caravan. His entourage was accompanied by The Good Shepherd, and hundreds of thousan8ds of his sheep. These sheep had a very different look about them. Their wool was "whiter than snow", and very, very long and very, very thick. They had not been sheered for a long, long time, and the wool was so long that one would not even recognize them as sheep.  All of the sheep followed The Good Shepherd, and focused on His every move, and listened intently to His every Word. 

   As the caravan made its way to the entrance of The Valley, a large group of demonic creatures gathered at the rim of the canyon, snarling and yelling slanderous and cursing words at God's anointed. These creatures had long horns, with razor sharp hooves, and were great in number. They yelled, "We hate God, we hate Jesus, we hate his anointed, and all of his sheep, and we will destroy them, this day, right here in this valley!"

   As the anointed and all with him entered into the valley, The Good Shepherd cried out to the sheep," Go! Stand in the Gap between the valley and the ridge, and pray with Faith in your hearts!" All of the sheep obeyed, and formed a long white wool line on both sides of the road leading through the valley of death. They did not look left or right, but faced forward, towards God's anointed with their eyes fixed on The Good Shepherd. 

   The demonic minions screamed loud obscenities at the sheep; jeering and laughing with evil, menacing  laughs saying," You sheep are weak, and we will slaughter you all. We will pierce you with our horns, and stomp you in the dust of this valley. You should run! For this day, you will die!"

   All of the sheep remained steadfast, and ignored the demons, and stood in the gap, with their eyes looking straight ahead. As God's anointed kept moving, the demonic creatures began to stampede down the walls and cliffs of the valley. As they approached the white wool line of sheep, they plowed their horns into the sides of the sheep, expecting the sheep to collapse in pain, and bleeding. But to their shock and dismay, their horns became stuck in the thick wool of the sheep, and became so entangled that they could not move. All of the sheep stood firm, and the more the demonic creatures struggled, the more they were entangled, until they were helplessly disabled. 

   The Good Shepherd walked calmly down the line of sheep, and instantly sheered all of the wool from all of the sheep, leaving a long line of piles of wool that were all filled with the struggling beasts. The more the beasts struggled, the more they were stuck in the piles of wool to the point that both their horns and sharp hooves were wrapped deeply in the piles of wool. They were all left helpless in the dust of the valley, where they eventually died, to be eaten by huge vultures that were circling above. 

   The Good Shepherd, all of his sheep, and God's anointed walked through the valley, totally unharmed moving forward into life to do God's Will!

Remember this: When The Flood Comes In, God Divides The Water!

                             What is the Meaning?

   First of all, this has nothing to do with politics, but is a lesson on how to trust God in all things. It is also an example of how the Lord really wants us to be involved in His will for all of us, and that requires obedience, and faithfulness to Him. "God's anointed" might be a person, but not necessarily. It could be anything that God ordains that we may not always understand. The Valley of Death is significant to our walk in this world each day. Watching the news lets us all know that we live in a dangerous world every day. The sheep are us; the believers and followers of The Good Shepherd, Jesus. The "whiter than snow" wool represents our forgiveness that Christ gives all who call on him as savior. The thickness and length of the wool represents the depth of our sin that we all have inherited from our Adamic original sin. The evil critters represent the evil in this world, and anyone who hates God. The sheep standing in the gap show how diligent and steadfast we must be to see God's will to its fruition. You will notice in the midst of the attacks, they kept their eyes on Jesus. BUT once the sin of the wicked entered into the white wool The Good Shepherd Jesus had to cut it loose, and leave it in the camp of the wicked, to be destroyed of their own devices. Just remember, when all else fails, God Almighty remains on the throne!