When we lived in Montana, we didn’t always live on a lot of acreage, so sometimes we would pack up our horses, and take them to a friend’s pasture where they could run and eat freely.
One of the times when we had our horses staying at a family friend’s house my dad told me he would take me out to go riding. We packed up our saddles, bridles, halters, a pan with some oats, and headed out to the large pasture to grab our horses. When we got there, we found our horses in a field with a few other horses and a herd of cattle. Excited to get started, I grabbed a halter and the pan, put some oats in it, crawled between the lines of bobbed wire fencing, and went out into the field with the horses and cattle. I began rattling the pan of oats and called the horses by name. I saw a commotion out of the corner of my eye, but I was focused on our horses. I could not understand why they were looking in my direction, but they were just standing there watching me…. Usually they will come running for even a chance at few bites of oats. I heard my dad yell, ‘Get out of there! NOW!’ Confused, I turned around and to see my dad waving his arms in the air. I looked around and saw what he and all the other animals were looking at. Over my left shoulder was the biggest bull I had ever seen. His head was down moving from one side to the other. He was in a cloud of dust, as he was throwing dirt on his back with what seemed to be red eyes. Next thing I knew, my dad yelled ‘RUN’. I turned and ran as fast as I could with the pan of oats in my hands. The ginormous bull began to charge me! My dad grabbed the strands of bobbed wire fence making a larger opening for me as I got close to the fence. The bull was closing the gap between us as I literally dove though the fence and landed on the other side of the fence, face down in the pan of oats. The bull stopped inches short of the fence and stood there snorting, trying to reach us through the fence as I lay shaking on the ground. My dad asked me if I had seen the bull getting mad and warning me that he was going to charge. I tried to explain that I had no idea what that bull was doing; I guessed that he was taking a dirt bath. We both laughed. He asked me why I didn’t drop the oat pan so I could run faster. I told him I was protecting the oats and saving them for my horses.
Eventually the bull went on his way and as we stood safely on the other side of the fence, our horses came to see us and grab some oats. We saddled up our horses right next to the fence and left the pasture safely on the back of the horses.
As I reflect on that day, I think of how so many times in life that we don’t realize we are in danger. We keep on doing what we are doing, like when I was shaking a pan of oats and making that bull angry. I was oblivious to the fact that I was in danger until my dad shouted at me. Here’s the thing…. I didn’t stop doing what was putting me in danger, I actually carried that pan of oats with me, and it slowed me down. I made it out of that scary situation, with bumps, scrapes, and bruises. How many times in life do we hang onto the things that are weighing us down? We carry hurt feelings, we hold onto things people have said and done, we hang onto things that we ourselves have done in the past. God wants us to let go of the things that are weighing us down. Each of us have things we need to leave at the feet of the Lord and allow that weight to be lifted off of us.
“So, here’s what I’ve learned from it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you.” Proverbs 55:22
