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Follow The Leader | The Good Shepherd · Wilder Whispers Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friend, welcome to Wilder Whispers, a space where we slow down and listen for God's voice in the ordinary moments of life.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Shay Wooden, and I'm so glad you're here.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: We often expect God to speak through big moments, a sermon, a breakthrough, a perfectly quiet prayer time, and he does.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: But so often, he chooses quieter ways, in the middle of everyday life, in the unnoticed moments, in gentle whispers that invite us closer.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Each episode, I'll share one simple story and the quiet truth God revealed through it, not because it was extraordinary, but because he was present.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: So wherever you are right now, take a breath, let's slow down, and listen together.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever found yourself wondering why God led you a certain way?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it was a door that closed, a change of plans, a delay you didn't expect, or a path you never would have chosen for yourself.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: In those moments, it's very easy to say, Lord, why this way?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: But what if the better question is who's leading you?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because when you know the character of the one leading you, you can follow with confidence, even when you don't understand the path.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: A few years ago, I was out walking our dog through the neighborhood when something caught my attention.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: A family of geese was making its way across the front lawn.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: There were two parents and seven little goslings.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: One parent was leading the way while the other stayed behind, keeping the goslings safely in between.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: I slowed down for a moment just to watch them.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: As I continued walking in their direction, the lead goose suddenly became alert.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Without any hesitation, it turned around.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: The parent in the back quickly gathered the goslings, and the entire family changed direction.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: They quietly waddled back across the lawn, moving away from me.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: The little goslings never hesitated.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't scatter.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't stop to decide which way to go.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: They simply stayed behind the ones who knew the way.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Over the past few months, I've found myself watching the geese around our own pond quite a bit.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've noticed they do the same thing every time someone gets too close.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: The parents become watchful.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: They gather the goslings together.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: One moves to the front, the other stays behind.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then they quietly lead their little ones to safety.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Every time I see it, I'm reminded of that walk years ago.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: The goslings didn't know what their parents knew.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't see what their parents saw.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: They simply followed the leader.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: As I watched that family disappear across the yard, I sensed the Holy Spirit whisper, follow the leader.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: As I thought about those three simple words, follow the leader, I realized they aren't just a childhood game.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: They're an invitation that runs all throughout Scripture.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: David begins Psalm 23 with these familiar words, The Lord is my shepherd.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes we read right past that opening line because we've heard it so many times.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's become familiar.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: But before David ever talks about green pastures, still waters, restored souls, or overflowing cups, he makes one simple declaration.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Everything David describes in the rest of this psalm is experienced because he is following the shepherd.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 23 isn't primarily about sheep, it's about the shepherd.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Everything else in the Psalm flows from that relationship.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: The Christian life doesn't begin with a set of rules to follow, it begins with the shepherd to follow.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's who God has always been.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to what Isaiah says.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: I love that picture.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: God doesn't stand at a distance and point us in the right direction.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: He goes before us.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then he invites us to follow.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: When you begin looking for it, you see that pattern throughout the Bible.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Noah followed God's instructions and was preserved through the flood.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Moses followed the cloud, and God led his people through the wilderness.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Joshua followed God's instructions around Jericho, and the walls came down.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Peter left his fishing nets because Jesus simply said, Follow me.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: One of the defining marks of a disciple isn't simply believing in Jesus, it's following Jesus.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: So what does following actually look like?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: As David continues through Psalm twenty three, one thing becomes unmistakably clear.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: The shepherd is never passive.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's always leading.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to David's language.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say I, he keeps saying he.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: He makes me lie down in green pastures.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the shepherd knows we need rest before we do.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: We're busy, we're driven.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: We keep pushing ourselves because we think everything depends on us.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: But the sheep experience rest because they follow the shepherd.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes his leadership looks like movement, sometimes it looks like rest.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: David says he leads me beside the still waters.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Peace isn't found because the sheep discovered the water.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Peace is found because they followed the shepherd there.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: The shepherd knows where peace can be found.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: The sheep simply follow.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: He restores my soul.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: I love that David doesn't say, I restored myself.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Restoration isn't something we achieve.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's what the shepherd does for those who follow him.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then David says, He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Notice he doesn't say I figured out the right path, or I found my own way.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: He says he leads.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's the beauty of following the shepherd.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: My responsibility isn't to know every turn, it's to keep following him.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Unlike the shepherds God rebuked through the prophet Ezekiel, leaders who neglected the flock instead of caring for it, our shepherd knows exactly what his sheep needs.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: He leads us to rest, peace, and restoration because he never stops caring for his own.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see the pattern?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Rest, peace, restoration.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: None of it's discovered apart from the shepherd.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Everything the shepherd provides is experienced by those who follow him.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: As David continues through Psalm 23, the scenery changes.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: The green pastures give way to a valley, and I love the way David says it.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Not if I walk through the valley, but though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Following the shepherd doesn't mean we'll never face difficult seasons.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the path he leads us on takes us through valleys.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: But listen to David's confidence.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: The valley wasn't what gave David peace, the shepherd's presence did.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Isaiah echoes that same promise.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Isaiah forty three and two.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Notice God doesn't say if you pass through the waters, he says when.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't promise we'll never face floods or fires, he promises we'll never face them alone.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: God didn't keep them out of the fire, he met them in the fire.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: They came out without even the smell of smoke because the presence of God was with them.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the shepherd leads us around danger, but sometimes he leads us through it.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Either way, his presence never leaves us.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: The safest place isn't where there are no valleys, floods, or fires.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: The safest place is following the shepherd wherever he leads.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: As David reaches the end of Psalm 23, he looks back over the journey and realizes something.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Every step had been covered by the shepherd's care.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: He provided, he protected, he restored, he prepared a table, he anointed his head with oil, his cup overflowed.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And now David declares, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that beautiful?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Isaiah tells us the Lord goes before us and is our rear guard.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: David reminds us that goodness and mercy follow behind us.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: The shepherd surrounds his sheep.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: But Israel's history tells us something else.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: There were shepherds who failed the flock.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Through Jeremiah God declared, Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's in Jeremiah twenty-three and one.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of caring for God's people, they scattered them.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Then through Ezekiel, God rebuked the shepherds for feeding themselves instead of the sheep, for failing to strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, and bring back those who had wandered in Ezekiel 34.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then God made an incredible promise in Ezekiel 34 11.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: He would feed them, care for them, and make them lie down.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Centuries later, Jesus stood before the people and said, I am the good shepherd in John 10 11.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: He wasn't introducing a new metaphor.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: He was declaring that he is the fulfillment of everything God had promised.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: He is the shepherd David sang about.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: He is the righteous king God promised through Jeremiah.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: He is the shepherd God promised through Ezekiel that he himself would be.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And unlike every earthly shepherd, Jesus never asks us to walk a road he hasn't already walked himself.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: He went before us.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: He walked through suffering.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: He entered death.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: He rose again.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And today he still says, Follow me.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you a simple question.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Where is Jesus asking you to follow him today?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's leading you in a direction that doesn't make sense.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's asking you to wait when you'd rather move ahead.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's closed a door you were convinced should have opened.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe he's leading you through a valley you never would have chosen for yourself.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever the path looks like, remember who is leading you.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: The shepherd always goes first.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: He sees what you cannot.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: He knows what you do not know.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And you can trust his leadership because his heart has already been proven.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Today, will you choose to follow the leader?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Today, if you've been waiting for God to explain every detail before you'll take the next step, maybe he's gently inviting you to do something different.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's simply asking you to follow.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not because you have all the answers, not because you can see what's around the next bend in the road, but because you know the heart of the one who is leading you.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: The shepherd has always been faithful to his sheep.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: He has gone before you.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: His goodness and mercy follow behind you.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: You are surrounded by his presence and his care.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So today, wherever he's leading, say yes.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Take the next step and follow the leader.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for being our good shepherd.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you that you don't simply tell us where to go, you go before us.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: You lead us with wisdom, with love, and with perfect knowledge of what lies ahead.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for the times we've wanted you to explain every step before we were willing to follow.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Teach us to recognize your voice.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Give us hearts that are willing to follow, even before we understand.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: When you lead us into green pastures, help us to rest.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: When you lead us beside still waters, help us to receive your peace.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: When you restore our souls, help us to slow down long enough to experience your presence.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And when you lead us through valleys, deep waters, or fiery trials, remind us that you have not abandoned us.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: You are with us in every place you lead.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for going before us.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for meeting us in every valley.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you that because of the cross and the empty tomb, we never walk alone.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Today, we choose to follow.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Lead us where you want us to go.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Protect us from dangers we can't see, and may our lives bring honor and glory to your name.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: In the name of Jesus we pray.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: The next time you see a flock of geese crossing a field, or find yourself wondering why God is leading you the way He is, pause for a moment.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, Shepherd sees what you cannot.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: He knows where peace can be found, he knows where danger is hiding, and he knows the way home.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: The invitation has never been to understand every step.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: The invitation has always been to follow the shepherd.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: So whatever road you're on today, keep following.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: He's already gone before you.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: And today's whisper to carry with you is this follow the leader, because God's direction is his protection.