No Horsing Around
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, but quite honestly it could have been 30 degrees and sleeting and I still would have described it as beautiful, simply because Chris and I were driving out of town towards a few days of peace and quiet. A car ride with your spouse, minus the noise of children, is a sure recipe for beauty!Yet in the midst of our drive, I noticed the most disturbing scene. Along a winding country road, a horse was standing at the edge of his property and eating grass. Obviously, that’s no big deal. Horses eat grass. The big deal was that this beautiful horse had maneuvered his head between two pieces of barbed wire in order to satisfy his munchies. Maybe he was a talented horse and I’m selling him short… but I immediately had visions of him stepping back, only to cut his smooth, chestnut nose on the mangled wire. What struck me as most disheartening about the whole scene was that literally right behind him were twenty acres he could have easily eaten without risk of injury. There was nothing outside of the fence that wasn’t also inside the fence.You know where I’m going with this, don’t you? This four-legged animal was living out what us two-legged creatures are equally guilty of: thinking the grass is always greener on the other side. We believe that we must be missing out. We are certain that everyone else has what we need or deserve. Just like my equestrian friend, we convince ourselves that it’s worth the risk to go after the mirage of a better world.I wondered if today, just today, could you and I decide that we really have all that we need? If we’re single, we don’t need a spouse today. If our marriage isn’t great, we could find what is good today. If we’re struggling with the place God has us in regarding our job or where we live, what if we just decided it’s enough for today? What if we decided to enjoy what was on our side of the fence? What if we accepted what was provided for us with a grateful heart?The horse had a place to run and food to eat. He had someone that cared enough to call him his own and provide his basic needs, yet it still wasn’t enough. Let us not fall into the same trap of always striving and never enjoying. Unintentionally, this leads us to a subtle or flagrant attitude of ungratefulness for what the Lord has provided. In our culture, it’s easy to listen to all of the social media and advertising messages and believe everyone else is better off. Don’t be duped. Count your blessings… and avoid the barbed wire!
Keep your life free from love of money,and be content with what you have, for he has said,“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”(Hebrews 13:5)