“I think we’re going downhill,” I whispered to my radio operator. It was imperceptible at first. Walking through the triple-canopy mountainous terrain in Vietnam did not allow us to see very far ahead on the trail.

Unseen from above, human and animal trails crisscrossed the mountainside. Looking at my map as we walked, I could see that we were not going in the right direction. Before I could pass the word to the lieutenant, we walked into a clearing and saw we were going down instead of up. There was quite a bit of grumbling as we backtracked to find the correct trail.

Life as we know it is a series of ups and downs, highs and lows. There are times we need to go down the hill, but that is not our spiritual trajectory. We are sheep under the care of the Good Shepherd. Uphill, spiritually, is God’s intended direction for us. Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.” (John 10:14, ESV)

We no longer live in an agrarian society, so talking about sheep doesn’t register with most Christians. My “go to” guy for learning about sheep is the late author Phillip Keller. His works A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 and A Shepherd Looks at The Good Shepherd and His Sheep are classics. In the former, Keller states that David wrote Psalm 23 not as a shepherd, although he was one, but as “a sheep under the care of the Great Shepherd.” (p. 17)

Keller was a shepherd as well, and his insights into sheep are incredible. The shepherd takes the sheep through the valleys to the higher meadows where the grazing is better. Keller says, “Similarly the ways of God lead upward through the valleys of our lives.” (p. 85) The metaphor here is one of spiritual maturity, as Keller goes on to say, “As Christians we will sooner or later discover that it is in the valleys of our lives that we find refreshment from God Himself.” (p. 86)

What if I find myself going downhill instead of climbing to the higher spiritual pastures? Scripture tells us how this happens. “My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold.” (Jeremiah 50:6)

Jeremiah’s passage dealt with the false shepherds of Israel, but regardless of whether I follow a false shepherd or no shepherd, my life is going downhill. God states that they are “lost sheep” going from “mountain to hill.” In other words, I’m going downhill.

Sheep need a shepherd, and so do we. The Shepherd cares for His sheep and leads them through the “valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4) to the higher meadows. Keller’s description of sheep is not a flattering one. Suffice it to say that sheep can only thrive under the care of the Shepherd. Jesus said this of the faithful shepherd, referring to Himself: “When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (John 10:4)

Finding yourself straying from the fold? Life on a downhill slide? Experiencing spiritual hunger? If you stop and listen, you will hear the Shepherd calling for His lost sheep. He leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep. You recognize the voice. You once followed it until life distracted you and you were separated from the flock. If you turn around, you will see the Shepherd is right there, ready to take you back to the flock.

What say ye, Man of Valor?
Semper Fidelis!