August 17, 2007
Just a few weeks ago I was crying for the rain to stop. In one 36 hour period (the day Gainesville flooded) we received 10 inches at Siete Ranch. Every time I planned to work the cows or move some hay or ride a horse it was so muddy that I had to cancel. There was good news, of course. Here in Plano we turned off our lawn sprinklers, and our drought-stricken lakes finally filled up. But, frankly, most of us were fed up with all the rain.
Having returned from the Davis Mountains where the early morning temperatures were in the upper 50’s (25 degrees below the 82’s here in Plano) and the afternoon highs were in the lower 80’s, I am experiencing quite a bit of culture shock. The biggest change, however, has to due with the rain, or lack thereof. Siete Ranch is now dried out, and the native grasses are crying for water. I don’t care what I said a month ago, in true agricultural tradition I am now praying for something else.
One of the biggest spiritual challenges in my life has been the effort to give thanks for and celebrate what is happening rather than what I THINK should be happening. It has taken exceptional spiritual effort on my part to grant to God what belongs to God, and accept for myself the part that God has given to me. But somehow God manages to make clear to me that I do not run the world. He has help from my wife who continually reminds me to “stick to sales and stay out of management.”
Whatever is happening in your life today, just remember that things change and that appearances deceive. What appears to be painful today may one day (perhaps even in the hereafter) make complete sense. Trust the changes in your life to the One whose infinite wisdom is guiding you even when you feel like you are in the wilderness.
