March 27, 2011 The Rarest Asset on Earth

[I didn't have a chance to post this on Sunday, but I wanted to share what I got yesterday anyway].

And the costliest!  It took the Israelites 40 years in the wilderness to get it!  What is that asset?  Humility!  How rare is it?  Just look around you.  I look into my own heart and life, and I'm not even sure it's there.  But one thing I do know, I've been through the wilderness (seems like 40 years anyway!), and now that it's time to enter the Promised Land. I'm hoping the wilderness experience did it's job, and I will be able to walk humble and not stumble.

"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." Deuteronomy 8:2

The blessings and requirements of the Promised Land demand the character of humility!  We won't be able to stand, much less bring glory to God, if we are in pride.  The Lord makes it clear that the temptations to pride will be great in our new territory.  Just think:  He has to remove seven mighty "nations" to make room for you!  He will be so big in you that He's going to have to take down a lot of the works of the devil that you encounter in your new land to make room for you and His work!  Seven - a completed number - He won't leave anything there to torment you if you will totally submit to Him and follow His directions!  This is good promise here!!  Grab it!  Hold on!

In Luke we get a great picture of Jesus honoring humility: Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:44-48 NKJV

Worship Jesus in humility, and it's a sweet-smelling fragrance to Him and to others! 

One key to humility is remembering the works of God in your life - staying thankful for His grace, salvation and forgiveness.  One hindrance to humility is condemnation!  This might sound contradictory, but it's not.  Pharisees and other hypocrites join right in with the devil in seeing us in the sin of our present and past, and naming us with it.  This does not help us stay humble, it gets our eyes on our self and lies to us - so don't join it, rebuke it!  No matter what your past is, He's got a good plan for you.  When Jesus calls us "Forgiven" we are forgiven.  He called us that on the cross!  It's up to us to believe that, grab a hold of it, thank Him for it, and walk in the freedom from our sin that He bought for us. 

Humility in our heart will keep us in constant dependency on God, and impel us to remain current with our repentance.  We may be maturing in the Lord, but we still need forgiveness - and we still need our feet washed.  If Jesus could allow a woman with a "bad reputation" to wash His feet, we can certainly let Him wash ours!

Agreeing with God is the essence of true humility.  Agree with Him about His promises to make you great in the heavenly Kingdom.  Agree with Him about His lordship, your need for Him, and His "always rightness".

Walk humble, and you won't stumble.







 

July 3, 2010 Turn At the Light

God's word testifies today of the power that His light and truth have to turn a person, or even a nation to Himself.  God had mercy on Josiah because he turned to the Lord, but the nation still had major consequences to deal with because of their great idolatry.  Paul the Apostle had a magnificent conversion when he encountered the glorious Christ on the road to Damascus.  He had a lot of suffering to deal with in his life, but the Lord used him to reach many souls for Him-- his letters minister to us so much even today.

I remember many years ago-- as a backslidden young woman lost in darkness-- coming to myself just like the progidal son did.  The description in today's 2 Kings reading reminds me so much of how I felt back then.  Suddenly, my eyes were opened, and I was overwhelmed when the Lord showed me how every area of my life was sin!  But because I turned to Him when He revealed himself to me, He cleansed me and healed me, and is in the process of restoring all that was lost through my rebelliousness and idolatry.  God is so good!  He will do the same for anyone that turns to Jesus as their Lord and Savior in true repentance, and He will lead them in the Way, the Truth and the Life.

I pray, on the anniversary of our "independence," that our nation will likewise have a great conversion.  We may still have to accept hard consequences for our mistakes, rebellions and idolatries.  But God will have mercy on any one who comes to Him humbly.  If enough of us turn to Him with our whole heart, perhaps this country may again shine His light as we are called to do.  As a nation, as well as individually, we must not trust in our wealth or our power to save us; we must humble ourselves before God and rely on Him alone.

"The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall in his own esteem.
Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty,
And before honor is humility." Proverbs 18:11-12 NKJV  

May 25, 2010 A "Yes" Like David's

Sometimes I like to just sit and ponder a scene, such as we have here, with God and David discussing who's going to build who a house.  If you want to know what real humility looks like, check out David's response.  He didn't argue with God's plan, and he didn't get puffed up either.  He simply acknowledged God for Who He is and praised Him for what He had done; David took God at His word and thanked Him.  He gave God credit for the greatness, and he didn't say, "you shouldn't have." 

This should be our response when we hear a promise from the Lord, no matter how far-fetched it might seem to us:  “And now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord GOD, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”  2 Samuel 7:28-29

Solomon was the immediate fulfillment of that promise, but Jesus was the complete and eternal fulfillment of it.  Because of this, we are included in God's promise to establish his kingdom and his throne forever, for the Son has the Father's blessing.  Jesus' Kingdom will be established forever, and He shall build a house for God's name.

So then we see Jesus beginning to do this very thing:  "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." John 14:23 I suggest reading again Jesus' words today and taking them personally.  These promises are for you!  Promises aren't activated in your life until you hear them, acknowledge them to be true, accept them for yourself and thank God for them.  They are no less real for you than for the disciples who were sitting with Jesus at the time they were spoken.

God was building Christ's Kingdom through David.  He is still building a holy temple for the dwelling place of His glory.  He wants you to be part of this temple, this Kingdom, this royal family.  The Spirit of Truth is here to bring this revelation into our hearts and make it a reality.  He will help you to see it.  When you do, may your "yes" be like David's.

May 21, 2010 Extravagant Love

I'm always so moved by the story of Mary's anointing of Jesus' feet.  It was intuitive, it was humble, it was costly, it was intimate, it was symbolic, it was prophetic.  It was an extravagant outpouring of love and gratitude, with no thought of herself.  It could not be missed.

The fragrance permeated the house.  It must have lingered for days!    Not a soul there could have been unaware of it.  Mary's action would have caused a reaction in everyone: some would have been touched, others angry.  Jesus was so moved that He made sure that act of love was memorialized for all time.  I would love to touch His heart that much-- wouldn't you?

When we live our life in loving surrender and worship of our Lord Jesus, holding nothing back, we give a gift more precious than a life savings.  Each person has a different offering, but when given freely from the heart, it is precious to Him.  To give oneself in extravagant worship is to touch the Lord's heart.  It creates a mutual experience that lingers.  The by-product is that the atmosphere of our life is a compelling fragrance that others, depending on their heart condition, are either drawn to or repelled by.  One thing is certain.  Jesus loves it!

Jesus loves us extravagantly, doesn't He?  Let's return His love.

May 14, 2010 God Looks on the Heart

“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7  I am so very glad that God looks at the heart, and that when He looks at me, He sees Jesus, and me in Him.  After reading this part of Saul's sad, sad story, I was very grateful to read of Jesus' mercy with the woman caught in adultery.  He saw a heart of repentance.  If there had been true repentance in Saul, he would have been accepted. 

No amount of bargaining with God can bring about a truce with Him; only accepting His way, and that Way is Christ.  But His love covers a multitude of sins-- things that couldn't be wiped out with any amount of tears or efforts at restitution.  We need Him.  We need to fear Him and obey Him, which can be hard until we know Him better.  Once we know His love, we would go through flames of utter destruction to get close to His heart.

Samuel was still learning lessons about discernment and seeing the heart, not just hearing words or seeing masks.  Jesus quoted what the Lord said to him, too, about not judging by appearances.  We need to know that God sees our heart: there's nothing we can hide from Him, but there's also nothing that God is hiding from us.  If we want to know Him, He is more than willing to reveal Himself to us.

I have never been the person the world would choose (funny, but I was really the proverbial person no one wanted on their sports team, at least until later on in highschool), and you probably aren't either.  But that's OK, because God chooses us.  He loved us before we knew Him, called us and accepted us.  I don't want to be unchosen for the things He's called me to do.  That keeps me on the straight and narrow.  He's not going to entrust anything to me if I'm untrustworthy.  I'm glad though, that He's not going to "unchoose me" from being His child, or "unfriend me" because I mess up.  He knows my weaknesses, and He helps me (and disciplines me sometimes).  Jesus said He'd never leave us or forsake us.  We would have to totally reject Him and leave Him completely to end up like Saul, which is, I guess, what Saul did.  I'd much rather be the one on the healing end of the harp than the one with a tormenting spirit because I rejected the Spirit of God.

 

April 28. 2010

The things that Gideon did, and that happened to his family, after he fought off the Midianites are very instructive to me.  It's too easy to let it go to our head when God uses us.  Now, I can't be sure this is what happened to him, but that's the application I see in it for me.  God can use us mightily, but if we don't let God deal with our self-nature issues, our pride can most certainly cause us, and others, to stumble. 

It's particularly dangerous if a person makes lots of money from whatever anointing they may have received, or gain lots of fame and attention from people.  Human beings don't deal very well with these things.  So many people seem to go off the deep end when they're super-successful, whether or not they started out with God.   I dealt with some of that stuff a long time ago (in my miniscule brush with fame), and I may have talked about that a little, I can't remember.  But I am very glad that the Lord has seen fit to keep me hidden from view for a very long time, while He's worked through so many messed-up things in me, to form Christ in me.  I'd like to stay totally hidden until "it's no longer I that lives, but Christ who lives in me."  But really, it's up to the Lord as to what He wants to do with us.  My choice would be to stay out of view, but I wouldn't have much influence that way, and it would probably be like burying the talents or hiding the lamp under a bushel. 

All I can say is, we've got to stay humble and not get a big head when He does something through us.  It's His power and ability, not ours.

Jesus statement on the cross says it all to me, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."  It's not until we can love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength-- and trust Him enough to let go--that we can ever get over our self.

April 14, 2010

The Luke passage again reminded me of the problem of offenses (remember the walled city).  What He says shows us how very serious offenses are.  Here, Jesus is teaching us about what we need to do to avoid offenses.  Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” Luke 17: 1-4

Notice that everybody's talking in the last scenario.  Offenses come when we don't talk to our brothers and sisters.  He's speaking about our family in the faith-- people in a Family whose whole foundation is God's total forgiveness.  He instructs us to tell them what they did wrong, that is, when they do something to us that is sinful (He doesn't mean go around and correct everybody for everything!  This is personal).  And He doesn't say, go point out the person's repeat errors. He says if they do it again and come and repent to you, let them know you forgive them, over and over.  This is a great way for us to get trained in a righteous behavior, by practicing accountability.  Notice that this brother is not offended, since he keeps asking for forgiveness. And we are walking in forgiveness, which means we've released it to the Lord.

Pay attention, though: Jesus said "Take heed to yourselves."  We're being careful here not to create an offense.  And not to take offense ourself.  We all sin on a regular basis.  We get offended when we don't get things aired out.  If I let someone sin against me over and over, and I don't point it out to them, it is too easy to become hard of heart, bitter and unforgiving.  Soon my fellowship with God and others is ruined.  This is offense.  Jesus didn't say, "If your brother offends you."  We choose to be offended.  If we do as Jesus said, we keep ouselves clear.  Guarding against offense means we must act against it before it comes, because once we're offended, we're probably going to need to be rescued (delivered).

We must understand how we could possibly create an offense, so we can be careful not to do so.  We help create an offense by not speaking correction at the proper time.  Consider this:  what if, later on, the person realizes they've been sinning all this time, and you didn't tell them.  What if they reaped all sorts of bad consequences for their sin that could have been avoided by honesty. 

We also create a situation for offense when we wound someone and do not admit it and ask them to forgive us for our sin.  It's not enough to repent privately to God and know we're forgiven.  If someone is harboring something against us (we used to call it "an ought" from the King James, and all that means is "something"), then things are not healthy, and we are all hindered.  The Kingdom of God is a lot about right relationship.  These things can contribute to people taking offense-- not only against you, but against the whole church, and eventually God.  They create opportunities for the devil to steal, kill and destroy.

The direst circumstance of creating offense is against "one of these little ones."  I see this as little either in the natural, as a young child, or young in the family of God.  I think a "little one" can be anyone you are have authority over.  When a person in authority-- such as a parent, or a spiritual leader-- sins against those in their protection-- those who trust and follow them-- they create a situation where the rebuke-repent-forgive scenario (open communication) cannot usually take place. 

"Little ones" will usually be too afraid to approach the authority to confront them about a sin.  If they do attempt it, most of the time, they are repelled, and will never attempt it again.  The young, untrained, and immature have the ability to forgive a parent or leader's sin without speaking about it to them (and most of the time to no one but God), but if the sin is very heinous or repeated, and it is not humbly confessed, this places a burden on these little ones that, too many times, cannot be overcome without help. 

Parents are mistaken if they think they should never admit wrong to their children. [In order to keep from defiling them unnecessarily, we confess only what the child already knows about].  Humble repentance is always in good order.  Children respond very gracefully to it, are very forgiving (unless they are already offended), and learn by the example. 

Our responsibility as Christians, especially if we are in a place of maturity and leadership, is to do everything we can to guard against offense.  Offense causes people to build terrible walls around their heart and life.  These walls become fortresses that keep people from loving and receiving love, and often make people lash out angrily.  If we realize we have helped create an offense, we must get on our face and repent before God, seeking Him as to how to restore the person or people.  It will not be easy, but nothing is impossible with God. 

Having been in the place of offense myself, on both sides, I can testify that the feeling is much like Jesus described: a millstone tied around one's neck and drowning in the sea.  Until we realize how horrible it is to treat people in this way, and how unbearable it is to be in this place, we will not be diligent enough.

I have not discussed sinning against, and causing offense, in unbelievers.  How has the world been affected by the professing Christian who does not walk in love or obey Christ's commands?  What must we do to deliver the world from offense?

April 10, 2010

The Bible says that the Lord knew Moses face to face!  Deut. 34:10.  I always thought of it the other way around (i.e., Moses knew God face to face), but I even checked out Exodus 33:11: So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

It seems that Jesus expects this kind of open-faced knowing from us as well. What do you think? I saw it here in this Scripture:
Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’  then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’  But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’   Luke 13:23-27

What does it take for the Lord to know us?  He certainly put an emphasis on that here.  And it wasn't just about being in the same vicinity and having the same nationality.  Obviously, the Lord knows everything, and He of course know us inside and out, as He made us and is omniscient and omnipresent.  So what does it take for the Lord to know us?  I want to know!  I want to make it through that narrow gate!

I try to stick with the Scripture reading of the day (there's so much in them!), but when I picked up my tea to go warm it up again, the Lord reminded me of these verses:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10

We might start out so afraid of God, like Moses (Exodus 3:6), that we won't even show our face.  We're not going to get to know God like that!  But the Lord's saying, "Where are you?  Open up!  Why are you hiding?"  Like He did with Adam and Eve.  If we allow fear, shame and the need to belong (thank you, Eldon, for that great teaching!) to keep us from showing our face to God, we'll remain foolish, because how will we overcome those issues if we will not receive instruction?  If the Lord's saying "I do not know you," it's because we're too proud to let Him in.  If we're going to go through His gate, He's going to first have to come in through ours.

Jesus said to those of His nation who would not believe in Him:  "See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” Luke 13: 35 

I'll never forget the day I realized, with a huge shock, that God saw everything about me! I had spent my life deperately trying to hide from Him, in spite of the fact I'd called myself a Christian for most of it.  I was in the middle of a rather wretched fight with my husband, and it was going nowhere.  I felt so hopeless.  Suddenly, the Lord revealed where I was at.  I remember falling onto the floor and weeping uncontrollably when I realized that God saw through my defenses.  I decided then that I had to stop hiding from the Lord behind the masks and walls I had built around myself to protect me from hurt, real or imagined.

Even though I had gotten revelation, it took years before I was willing to totally lay down the things that I used to shield myself from others and from God.  I was so expert at creating defenses that most of them were hidden even from myself.  I'm still not sure they're all gone, but at least now I am willing to be shown, either by the Lord or a person that He might speak through.  The more I reveal myself to Him, the more He reveals Himself to me. 

Have you ever seen a child, who, by covering her eyes, thinks she is hiding from her parent?  I have!  A child quickly figures it out, but it is funny when they first do it.  We are like that with the Lord, and yet how slowly we come to the reality that we must not try to hide from Him.  He can see us anyway.  And the great truth is, that He loves us, so much more, than we love our own little children.

It is wisdom to uncover the face of our heart when we go to the written Word, for in it we will find Christ, if we will only open our eyes and let Him see us.

March 9, 2010

Have you ever heard the term "spiritual pride"?  I understand that people use the term to mean "proud over their spirituality" or something like that, but it seems to me that pride is anything but spiritual!  Satan fell by being proud, didn't he? 

Remember the reading from February 26?:  "But when He [Jesus] had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Mark 8:33    No matter how "spiritual" we think we are, if we're in pride, we're not walking in the Spirit.  If we're arguing with Jesus, we're taking sides with the devil!  Satan is a spirit, but he became carnal by being proud.

All human beings have spirits, whether they walk with Christ or not, and all spirits are not of God!   Does this change your point of view about non-Christians?  About spirituality? 

If you can get a handle on the truth that pride originates in your spirit, it will revolutionize your Christian walk!  [Bonus:  there's a reason humility isn't listed in the Fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23.  Humility is an attitude or position of the spirit, and it is your free-will choice;  it takes humility to "walk in the Spirit" in order to bear fruit.]

Moses and Jesus both demonstrated, through their words and actions, what it is to be humble.  They were submitted to God.  "Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth." Numbers 12:3  He had an intimate relationship with God.  Jesus is the Son of God, and the most spiritual of all wouldn't you say, and He prayed, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." Mark 14:36 

The readings today show both Old Testament and  New Testament examples of how pride is a spiritual issue, what the outcome is, and how to avoid it.  In Numbers 11, God had just transferred some of the anointing Moses had onto seventy of the elders, and they prophesied.  Although Joshua expressed some concern over this, Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake?  Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!" 11:28-29  I'm thinking some pride was exposed by this turn of events, for it wasn't long before Aaron and Miriam rose up in criticism of Moses saying, "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?  Has he not spoken through us also?" 12:1-2  Miriam must have instigated it, as she was the one who was disciplined.  Do you think perhaps the Lord was giving a strong warning to those who had received the Spirit, not to walk in pride over it?  How does this pertain to us?

Jesus' disciples seemed to have had the same problem.  They'd been singled out to walk with Jesus day by day, and He had told them many things in private.  I think they began to see themselves as very spiritual, so much so that they wouldn't receive a serious warning from Jesus.  "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you," said Peter.  And all of them said the same, even though Jesus had just told them they would all run off.  He gave Peter, James and John the chance to "keep awake and pray,"  but it seems that they were overwhelmed and went to sleep instead. 

Pride does not watch and pray, but humility does.  Pride falls into temptation, humility falls on its face before God.

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble." Proverbs 11: 2

March 2, 2010

I love Psalm 45  and it's beautiful description of our glorious King-- and of the Bride! Don't you? It has advice to her on how to please Him as well. As I meditate on this, my love for Him is increased, as is my desire to be seated with Him to rule and reign.

It seems that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, had a glimpse into this calling, but perhaps their desire was not pure-- worldly ambition tingeing the dream. Isn't this true of all of us to one extent or another? If we want to "qualify," then, we'll follow Jesus' clear instructions. He led the way Himself, for He "came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Mark 10:45   It is not the way we picture a King preparing to take his throne, is it?

Jesus is the Way, and as we walk in Him, we will have our motives purified in the baptism of fire, we will drink a cup of suffering with Him as we follow Him in service, and we will be changed into His image and likeness as we submit to His leading, until we are humble and habitually lay down our lives as He did. He will make us ready to sit with Him if we are willing to walk with Him, stand up for Him, and bow down to Him.

February 3, 2010

Wasn't it cool how the Scripture readings coordinated today? I love the contrast between Moses and the religious leaders of Jesus' day. Jesus said that "they sit on Moses' seat; therefore do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach." Matthew 22:2-3

Later in the chapter, he said more that described Moses: "The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted." vs. 11-12 Moses was serving the people so much that his wise father-in-law advised that he delegate some responsibility. Then he demonstrated humility and took the advice. Exodus 18:19-25 Jesus also was a great example of these principles.

There are times we have to recognize our God-given limits. Yes, we are to function in His power and strength, but as you can see, it is not given to us to do everything in the Kingdom as an individual. We need other people to help. If we could do everything ourselves, then there would be no need for the Body of Christ to function. Even Jesus, who is God and could certainly do everything Himself if He wanted to, has made us His Body, and He's delegated authority and expects us to carry out our functions faithfully.

January 27, 2010

Jesus told us to be humble like a child: that is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:4. Moses was humble, but he made God angry when he told God to "please send someone else," even after God said He's put the words in his mouth and had given him signs to show. Exodus 4:12-14 (I'm struck by how the Lord didn't recind the call, just made a provision for Moses' weakness.)

I've had the Lord tell me to do many things I just knew I couldn't do, and yet He was there helping me when I stepped out. Of course, there have been many, many times I didn't step out because of fear and unbelief.

Apparently, the greatest humility is to take God at His word and obey, no matter how crazy it seems, and no matter what anyone else thinks of you.

January 16, 2010

In these passages today, I hear a word especially for pastors: gentleness and humility. Esteeming and caring for the little ones of the flock is the theme. Jesus showed us the Father's heart and nature and said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Matthew 11:29-30. He also said that the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. 11:11. We miss out so much if we don't listen to and learn from our little ones, in the spiritual and the natural, for God reveals things to infants. 11:25  We should never look down on the children or disregard them.

I was so touched at what Jacob said about leading his tribe: "the children are frail and the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. . . I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children." Genesis 33:13-14

Of course there are warriors, the mature, and the strong. But the flock must not be driven according to their pace.