The Bible says, "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." God is referred to as the great shepherd throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. A shepherd's job was extremely important in those days, because he tended the flocks and kept them safe. He would feed them, bring them to water, and most of all protect them; many times he would risk, or even sacrifice, his own life to safeguard the lives of his herd. The herd was totally dependent on their shepherd, and that's why it became the perfect analogy to use for God, because we are totally dependent on Him.

" But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" Matthew 2:6

The Old Testament also predicted that another shepherd would come, and this shepherd was Jesus, who arrived just as predicted hundreds of years earlier. The term shepherd was much more than just an analogy for Jesus though. He became our actual shepherd, in the flesh, and just as a shepherd would protect his flock at all costs, so has Jesus protected us.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10:11

Jesus actually went as far as to lay down His life for His sheep. He died to rescue His sheep from certain death, but unlike any other shepherd that faces death, He was raised back up from the dead, to continue watching over His sheep, and He never tires, He never rests, and He never turns away.

"For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice." Ezekiel 34:11-13,15-16

God, through His shepherd Jesus, is always there to oversee and protect His sheep. He knows when we have gone astray, but He never lets us stray too far. He will always be there to bring us back, to rescue us when we've strayed into danger, and to heal us when we've strayed into harm. How can anyone ever worry when they have a shepherd watching over them who would lay down His life to protect theirs?

"All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." Matthew 25:32

Our shepherd has promised to return and claim His sheep, and unlike a promise made by man, our Lord does not break His promises. Jesus said He will return and He will. It could be tomorrow, or it could be another thousand years from now, but He will keep that promise, and we must be ready.

"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." Psalms 9:10

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24

"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

These are some very powerful words, and there are many similar verses in the Bible. God understands our limited concept of time, and He realized that we would be reading His word long after the events took place. So it's no surprise that these terms, "trust, belief and faith" occur so often throughout the Bible. God expects us to rely on faith to believe in Him, Jesus made this very clear. He spoke frequently about the power of faith. He told the sick that it was their faith that healed them, and He told us that nothing is impossible when we have faith. Jesus continually made the promise of eternal life through God's grace, repeating over and over again, that to receive the gift of grace we must believe in Him. We must believe in Him with all our hearts, and believe in Him with no doubt, but believing takes a degree of trust. Believing takes faith.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5

Trust: You trust your friends, but to what degree? When you first meet someone you may become friends with them, but you probably won't trust them very much. Trust is something that builds over time, growing and strengthening as your relationship grows, and your bond of friendship becomes stronger. Your trust of that friend will continue to expand as you get to know and understand them better, perhaps to the point where you would actually trust them with your very life. Of course trust can also be associated with inanimate objects. You trust that a chair won't collapse when you sit on it, because you have a certain amount of knowledge concerning the structure and strength of the chair. We learn to trust things over time, as we begin to understand them we learn to trust them. So it's safe to say that trust is based on knowledge and understanding.

"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." John 11:25-26

Belief: Everyone believes in certain things. You probably believe that fire is hot and ice is cold. You believe this because you have experienced their qualities yourself, and if you had to, you could produce other facts or evidence to support this belief. You would expect to be burned by fire, and frozen by ice. So expectation defines belief, but belief is more than just expectations. If you've ever flown on an airplane, you would have to say that you believe in their ability to fly. You believe that they can stay up in the air for long periods of time, cover great distances, and safely land at their destination. If you didn't believe this you would never get on a plane. But this kind of belief goes beyond expectations. Of course you expect the plane to do these things, but you must also have confidence in that belief. When your life is at stake you want to be confident in your expectations; you want to truly believe you are right. So it would be safe to say that belief is composed of confidence in expectations.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Faith: Faith is essentially a combination of belief and trust, and it can therefore be defined in a similar way. We said that trust is based on knowledge and understanding, while belief is based on confidence in our expectations; so faith can be said to possess these descriptions as well. To gain knowledge of the Lord and your salvation, and to understand Him and His purpose for you, you need to go to the only source of information available - His word. As you read the Bible you will begin to gain a better understanding of God's plan, and you will strengthen your relationship with Jesus. Then, the greater that bond with Him becomes, the more you will be able to trust Him, until ultimately you are able to trust in Him completely; this is faith. Faith is also confidence in our expectations. We expect Jesus to keep His promise of our salvation, and when you believe, you can be confident of that expectation. This confidence is developed over time. As you begin your walk with Christ, you will see and feel Him moving within your life; His presence will become more and more evident, until ultimately you have absolute confidence in Him, and you begin to rely on Him completely; this is faith.

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and trust that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6

The Bible doesn't say that it's improbable or unlikely to please God without faith, it says that it's impossible to please God without faith. Faith is a precept in our relationship with God. He wants our total reliance on Him, and this can only be accomplished through faith. This kind of utter faith does not come easily though, in fact many times it only comes at our lowest moments. God said, "My power is made perfect in weakness"; but what does that mean? This story helps to illustrate what God means:

A father takes his young son to a crowded mall to do some shopping. The little boy is filled with energy, and he runs through the halls and up and down the isles, causing his father to holler, "Stay by me, or you'll get lost!" His Dad has to repeat this several times, but the boy ignores him. Until, sure enough, he turns around and Dad isn't there. Fear sets in quickly as he spins around looking in every direction. He cries out for his father, certain that he'll never find him, when suddenly, he turns a corner, and there he is. His father had been right there all along; he had never really let him out of his sight. The boy is thrilled to see his Dad, and the fear leaves him as quickly as it had come. He runs to his father and grabs his hand, holding it tightly, and unwilling to let go now, at all costs. But soon his little legs begin to tire and he just can't keep up. He yawns, and just when he's sure he can't go on, his father reaches down and picks him up. As his father carries him, he realizes how strong and powerful his father's legs are. They can move him much faster, and cover a much greater distance then his little legs ever could. He lays his head down on his father's shoulder, and just before he dozes off, he realizes just how much his father loves him; then he rests.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" Matthew 11:28-30

When the boy in the story was at his weakest, he had to rely most on his father, just like when we're at our weakest, and we need to rely most on our heavenly father; God. It's in those times that our faith needs to be the strongest, but it's also in those times that having faith can be the most difficult. When the child ran off he quickly lost faith in his father. He was certain that his father had left him, until the crisis was over, and then he realized his father would never leave him, just like God will never leave us. But how quickly we forget. When we have difficult times we're quick to loose faith in God, but God knows this, and He uses these times of trouble to refine us, bringing our character ever nearer to His, and strengthening our faith in Him. We just need to develop our faith to the point where, like the child in the story, we can climb into God's arms, allowing Him to take all of our burdens, and carry us until we're strong enough to walk on our own again. We have to have enough faith to lay our head on God's shoulder, and rest there on Him. To be confident that when we awake, He will have taken us to a place where we'll be a little bit stronger, and a little bit better off. We must get to the point where we rest assured.

"And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." John 6:39

God's will is that Jesus will not lose any of us that are given to Him - any of us who are saved. That's a promise that should not only make us feel confident in our salvation, but also make us realize that we have a God who loves us completely; all He wants is for us to love him just as unconditionally as He loves us.

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