The Path (Fire on the Mountain Series) (21 page)

“Perhaps, but you won’t the next time,” I responded. “I did not go to them just to try to get them engaged with the rest of the group. We do need them. They are critical to all of us making it through this wilderness. To make it we need everyone in the right place doing what they were called to do.

“Those kids were excited by the lion attacks. Some of them panicked, which is to be expected, but most were ready to fight in spite of their fear. They loved the way Elijah went right after those lions. They’re warriors. With some training and guidance they will be a powerful force by the time we get to the mountain.

“Now here is the part you still may not see—they need you, and you need them,” I said.

“I would love to help them, but how? I stayed and talked with them for a while after you left. I felt like I was almost bonding with them. I was surprised by how I was drawn to them. I would never have expected it. So you think I am going to be able to help train them?” William asked.

“William, you too have gifts you do not know about yet,” I replied. “They need a mentor, and you are not just a good one, you are the perfect one. There is leadership on all of those kids, and you are called to be a teacher to them. They will draw the living water out of you that you do not even yet realize is in you.”

“I confess to being excited just to try,” William replied. “What do I need to do next?”

“The foundation of all that we are called to be and do in God is family first. Relationship must be first. Get to know them. Let them get to know you. Relationships are built on trust and affection. However, they do not need you as another buddy, but as a father and, at times, a drill sergeant.

“You don’t have to change to connect to them as you should, and they should not have to change to connect with you. Be yourself, and let them be who they are. We’re all going to change on this journey, but it must be through the process of the experiences, not artificially. They will mature, and you will have some of your youth restored.”

“That is very encouraging and liberating,” William responded. “I am a bit repulsed when people my age try to act like teenagers. I am already so fond of these kids that I would have done it if I had to, but I think it would have been ugly.”

“It would have been more ugly than we want to consider, but for us to fit together as we are called we all must be who God has made us into, and not try to be anything else. The trust and respect that all true relationships are built on begins with us trusting who we are and respecting ourselves enough to be real with one another. We are commanded to ‘
speak truth to one another
,’ which also means to be true, to be real with one another.

“One other thing about your relationship to these younger ones—I can see that just talking about this is awakening you. That’s the living waters flowing in your heart. These living waters can only come out of our innermost being, our deepest heart desire. Our deepest heart desire touches what we were created for. When you touch that purpose, you open a well of living water in your heart. We’re following the living water here because it will lead us to the mountain. Follow the living water that flows from your heart the same way.”

“You are right that I feel energized by just the thought of being able to connect with those kids. The thought of being a mentor to them is very exciting. But just this morning I did not even like them, and now it’s like they’re my favorite people. You knew this when you took me to talk to them, didn’t you?” William asked.

“I suspected it,” I replied. “I knew they needed you, and I assumed that you would also need them. I was hoping you would make a connection with them, but I cannot say that I was sure it would work out.”

“Doesn’t it always work out this smoothly when God has ordained something?” William said, more as a statement than a question.

“No. It does not always work out that smoothly or quickly even when it is His purpose. Sometimes, and I would even say most of the time, when things happen too easily or too fast they tend to be insignificant.”

“Well, if we applied that to my relationship to these kids, then it would not be that important,” William said, questioningly.

“William, there are laws, and there are principles. There are no exceptions to laws, but principles have exceptions. This is a principle that is, I think, true most of the time, but not always. Generally, the more you have to fight for something the more important or valuable it is, and the more important and valuable you will therefore consider it to be.

“However, I know you have a calling to be a mentor to the emerging generation. For this reason, even though the initial connection seemed to have been so fast and easy, I think you need to be very watchful of this relationship being tested, and maybe more severely than you would expect. Just don’t be thrown off when the testing comes.”

“I see your point. Sometimes the testing is not immediate, but it will come. To be forewarned like this can be very helpful. I will try to prepare for the testing so that I am not shaken when it comes,” William replied.

I marveled at how teachable William was as I watched him walk off toward a few of the youth who were approaching, obviously wanting to talk with him. This connection was important, and maybe the most important thing that had happened to us yet. I also knew that getting the watchmen trained and in place was going to be more important every day.

I then turned my attention to the crisis at hand—food and water. The scouts had all come back with reports of finding nothing, and it was now too dark to send them out again. The more I sat thinking about it, the more all my fears about being a poor leader came cascading down upon me. This is the most basic need that people have, and I had led them to a place where their basic needs could not be met. I was getting distraught that I had already let them down.

As I looked around, most were falling asleep quickly because they were so exhausted. They would desperately need food and water in the morning. I was weak too, but I felt even worse about being the cause of it. For the first time since I had joined this group, I would have rather been going through the wilderness alone again. When I was alone my mistakes did not affect so many others.

I had not followed the most basic principle Elijah had told me—to never get far from the stream of living water. I wanted to sleep, especially knowing that the next day could be a very hard one, but sleep did not come. I would like to have discussed the situation with William, but he was still talking with a few of those we had assigned as watchmen. I started to think that there could not be a lonelier feeling than being a leader and feeling that you have led those in your charge badly.

I decided to get up and walk a little distance from the camp to pray. That is when I saw him, standing in the path directly in front of me.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE SHEPHERD

I
walked up to him and stopped a few feet away. He looked at me for a moment, took the staff that was in his hand, and tapped the ground.

“It’s here,” he said.

I looked down at the ground and could see a little trickle of water where he had struck it. I looked back at him, and he was smiling the most wonderful, friendly smile I think I’ve ever seen.

“I’ve come to show you this, and to give you this,” he said, handing me the staff.

I looked at the staff. There did not seem to be anything unique or remarkable about it. It was just a straight stick about as long as I was tall. It seemed to have been freshly cut, and still had bark on it, so that I knew it had not been used much, if at all.

“It has not been used much,” he began. “It was cut for you from the great tree. The cloak you wear for grace, but this you use for authority.”

“I never thought I would have one of these,” I replied. “Can I ask you a few questions about it?”

“Of course,” he said with a smile that was so compelling and truly joyful that I felt almost completely at ease.

“You are very different from the way I thought you would be. I was not expecting you to bring me anything, but if I had, it would not have been this shepherd’s staff. If there is anything I feel I have been a terrible failure at, it is being a shepherd. The fact that you have brought me this must be a message. Can you explain it?” I asked.

“The Lord’s strength is made perfect in weakness. Your failures have prepared you for what you are now called to do.

“I was the first to walk with God after Adam. The more I sought Him the more He became my joy. Then the time I spent with Him became more desirable than anything in this world. Just being with Him was on my mind night and day. He became my life. This, too, is your desire.

“It is the foundation of a shepherd’s life. You will only lead and care for His people well if you are walking with the Lord and getting ever closer Him. When you stop getting closer to Him you will begin to fail in your leadership of His people, because your purpose is to lead them to Him. He is their green pasture. He is their living water. He is their rest. He is their life,” Enoch explained.

I could not help but stare at Enoch. I have never seen anyone so deeply joyful or full of love. I have never seen a smile that made you feel so good, so accepted, and valued. I just did not expect Enoch to be anything like this—perhaps the happiest person who ever lived! I then looked closely at the staff he had given me.

“I have been used to teach and prophesy, but I never thought I would ever be given this staff,” I continued. “I know I have been called to lead people in different ways, as I am now leading this group through this wilderness, but I never saw myself as a shepherd. I’m honored but concerned. I intimidate people rather than make them feel comfortable.

“I don’t want to be that way and don’t like it, but I am and don’t know how to change. Just being with you these few minutes, I would say that you are possibly the warmest person I’ve ever met. I am not making light of this. I consider that a great gift, one that is needed for this job and one that I do not have.”

“What I have is the joy of the Lord,” Enoch continued. “This is not a gift, but fruit. It is the fruit of walking with the One who is the greatest desire of every heart. The closer you walk with Him the more joy you will have. The joy that you have in Him then becomes a joy in His people, in His creation, and in everything He calls you to do.

“This is because you will be doing it with Him. Getting closer to Him will change you into who He made you to be. When you get closer to the consuming fire, then the warmth of His fire will be in you.”

“These few days with this group has uncapped something deep inside of me,” I replied. “Every day I care more for them. Something in me has changed so that I see them differently than I have seen a group of people before. Everyone is a priceless treasure. I just love being with them, and I’m more thankful for this job every day. I long for the mountain, but if the King was to keep me here leading groups through this part of the wilderness over and over, I would be happy,” I admitted. “If this is why I am being given this staff, I am very happy about it.”

“Every assignment given by the King is like that. It is while you are walking with Him and doing His work that the innermost springs of your heart are opened. Though you were called as one from the beginning, you did not come here as a shepherd, but you will leave here as one,” Enoch said, taking me by the shoulders and smiling even more broadly. “Now, you have more questions. Please ask them.”

“The water here is under our feet? Can I get it just as you did, by tapping the ground with this staff?” I inquired.

“Yes, you can. With this staff, you can tap the ground and waters will flow. You can even strike a rock, and waters will flow from it,” he answered.

“So I do not have to stay close to a flowing stream anymore?” I asked.

“You must always stay close to the living waters, and they are always flowing, but here they are not on the surface. As you go into higher places like this you will often have to dig for the living water. The higher you go the deeper you may have to dig for them, but they will be near you. They will always be close to the path you are to walk,” he added.

“So, if I stay on the right path we should always find the waters nearby?”

“Yes. In fact, they will be right under your feet. If you cannot find them under your feet then you know you have strayed from your course.