Under Attack

John 10: ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. (NIV)

 

People amaze me sometimes. One would think that people on the same team would support and encourage one another, but this is not always the case.  In fact, in this ever-increasingly self-centered world, its obvious to me that if there's not something in it for the individual, then taking the team down with an interpersonal squabble is acceptable.  I was not raised this way, do not think this way, and am amazed and almost always caught off-guard by people that do.  In fact, I'm not very good at combating these people because they have secret, personal agendas, whereas I always (or at least I think I do) approach situations with a great deal of transparency and naivety.   That makes me and those working with me vulnerable to surprise attack from within. 

Jesus talked about people like this - those whom their personal agendas are bigger than the objectives of the team.  In this particular case in John 10, he acknowledges that such people really are serving as "hired hands" as opposed to the "good shepherd" who lays his life down for His sheep.  Obviously Jesus is talking to and referring to the Pharisees who are focused simply on their own personal agenda, but I think the principle applies to many cases in which I see people elevate their own personal agendas above the team's and the team suffers because of it.

I find comfort in knowing that whether today, or in the far distant future, God ultimately wins and as an inheritor of His kingdom, then so do I.  Paul, who was always under very real physical as well as verbal attack summed it up this way: 2 Timothy 4: ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (NIV)

I really don't know what some people's agenda truly is, but I know that in spite of their scheming and backstabbing attacks, in the end, God wins.  My job is to remain in His will which requires me to forgive them.  Today, forgiveness will be hard, but I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be holy and acceptable to Him and would bring Him glory and honor.