Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16 ESV

I was born left-handed, and I still painfully remember the upside down feeling of learning to write. At Hamilton Elementary, all children were taught penmanship right-handed. But I held my paper entirely upside down, gripped the pen the wrong way and on my report card every quarter appeared the inevitable F.

What I could never shake was the feeling of being upside down. That is the same feeling that Jesus is preparing us for with this verse. He tells us we are going out like sheep among wolves. Now if we stop to think about it we would all agree that there is no competition in a fight between sheep and wolves. The wolves have bigger teeth, are stronger and can run circles around sheep. Nevertheless Jesus confidently sends us out because we have one thing the wolf doesn’t have. We have the shepherd! 

When we get into a wolf-fight, our first tendency is to sign up for the “How to fight like a Wolf” seminar. We think if we could just try a little harder, change our tactics or develop a quicker response, we might come out on top. But that wasn’t the Lord’s idea at all. What Jesus wanted was for us to live life walking close behind Him. Being strong enough to protect ourselves can never compare to having the protection of the Lord. We are no match for wolves, but they will run away from us when they come face to face with our Shepherd. Then He makes us lie down in green pastures and turns our world right side up!