I Rescue Them When It Is Cloudy and Dark

In Ezekiel 34:11-14 we hear the Lord say "I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark." In today's reading the image of the good shepherd is projected in Micah and the Gospel reading from Luke.  When are we rescued? Do we have to be as the prodigal son and go to the depths of darkness before we realize that there is a better way? Many of us have ventured into the darkness of the world in search of a better life only to find that we were delusional. What we found was an unrelenting emptiness as the search of riches and gratification was pursued. Prayers seemed to go unanswered.  As the son stated in Luke when he comes to he senses and realizes that he truly has nothing "here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father." You know the rest of the story.

It is at this point that in our human nature we may have hit that proverbial bottom than we are ready to give up our way of life for a better way.  For some it may come after many years of internal personal battles. For others it may come after a life changing event.  Whatever the case the Lord is ready when we are.  Those cries of desperation are now answered. "I cry aloud to God, cry aloud to God that he may hear me, " says the psalmist. The Lord in his infinite mercy has heard our cry. The darkness and clouds dissipate. The sun shines and a new life is found.  Only that we remember that this must be a daily cry in our venture in the world of darkness. We become the light as Christ shines through us to others who may have endured a similar plight in their journey.