The good shepherd and his sheep

Today as I spent time with God, I read in John chapter 10. This chapter is when Jesus is talking to the people about what a good shepherd is. I have read this many times, but today, through God I really sat down and wrote down all the things that the good shepherd does for us. The funny thing is that most of us want a "shepherd" we want someone to take care of us. We want to feel safe. Especially as women, we want someone who will always be there, who will always take up for us, who will fight the battles for us. We don't want to have to worry about anything, but just know that we're safe and taken care of. So many of us search for a man or worldy things to try to make that feeling go away. We are in search for something in our lives. There's a void in each and every one of us, that we are born with, that NOTHING, not sex, not money, not affection, not clothes etc will fix it. God has put that void in us for a reason. He is supposed to fill that, and we will never feel complete without that. I know that before i was saved, i felt the same way. As most young girls do, especially being raised in a home without a father, i turned to affection from men to help that. I always wanted to feel loved, and if I could find a man in my life that would tell me he loved me and show me attention, then all would be well. Needless to say, that didn't help. And so many people do that not just with men, but with drugs and addictions. We are all looking for that avenue to escape the pain, to escape the world and to deny that feeling that we have of despair and hopelessness. The answer to that is Jesus. When i spoke to God today, i prayed about how to see people the way that God does. To separate the sin from the sinner. That is the hardest thing for me. I tend to exactly relate the sin to that person and become mad and angry with that person. Jesus seen the difference. My pastor has been talking about that and he said that Jesus modeled a gracious sensitivity to human failure, and spoke about the sin and not the person. He was able to pick out of that person the sin that they were committing and still love that sinner. Goodness, how many of us need help with that. I think that is one of the hardest things as a christian to do. How do you witness when you can't separate the sin long enough to love on that person and share the good news with them?. I know that I have gone off on a few different subjects and I will go more in depth on those and other subjects later, but here is what I wrote down today as a few things that a good shepherd does. He opens doors for us, he goes ahead of us and he leads us to wherever we need to go, he knows us individually and intimately by name, he keeps away those who might harm us, he protects us and keeps us together in safety, he finds us food and water and finds paths in the wilderness, he stands between us and danger, and will fight and die for our safety and protection because of his love for us. he gives us rest, he is patient with us, he walks beside us and never leaves us, he lets us rest and he provides all that we need. Those are just a few things that a "shepherd" does. When we follow and know him intimately we will know our shepherds voice and we will know when it's the voice of a stranger that is leading us. My prayer is that I will realize all that the shepherd is in my life and I will remember that always.