Job 39.9-12 9 “Is
the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger?
10 Can you bind him
in the furrow with ropes, or will he harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend
on him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor?
12 Do you have
faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing
floor?” – God
Last year (2014) I got to go on a mission trip to Kenya.
Fascinating. Mysterious. Human. There were many facets to the trip that I will
remember as long as I live – the city, the crowds, the markets, the school, the
children; the little black fingers touching my hands, my wedding ring, and my pale,
honky arms, and feeling the white hair thereupon. The kids were intensely
curious about this old white guy. It’s funny, they said, to them, we all looked the same – hah!
At the end of the trip we went to the southern part of
Kenya to the famed Maasai Mara. Maasai are the people, and Mara is the trees
that dot the vast landscape. Our great God seems to love abundance because the zebra,
gazelle, deer, wildebeest, and giraffe were without number – everywhere! The
lions, cheetah, and other predators were fat and sassy; no shortage of food
there.
Interestingly the most dangerous animal on the Mara is
the Cape Buffalo. Not unlike their distant American cousins, the Bison, they
are seemingly docile until threatened or provoked: then it hits the fan and the
recipient of their ferocity is usually dead within a matter of moments having
been flung afar, gored, and trampled. It is this creature that is mentioned
above in Job 39. Is the Cape Buffalo
willing to serve you? Nope. Is he willing to kill you? Only if you make the
mistake of trying to tame him.
The Mara is littered with the skeletal remains of the
Cape because even though they are quite able to defend themselves, even they
are no match for the big cats. Speaking of which, the cats aren’t into being
tamed either. Animals are terrified of mankind and prone to defend themselves
to the death (yours included) when around men who are too stupid to understand
that looks can indeed, be deceiving.
The problem with the Cape is he promises so much
potential yet delivers such deadliness. The problem with men is they are too
concerned about production to notice that brawn
with no brain is a horrific threat to the one who thinks he can woo the
Cape tamely into his corral to be employed in his fields. God says, Fat chance.
Life is much like the Cape Buffalo, seeming to offer one
thing, and yet serving up something else. Again, the problem with us is we believe
life is one thing, only to find out that like the Cape, it is something else
entirely; and the results are often catastrophic. Kinda depends on where we put
our trust.
Knowing what I know now, I give the Cape Buffalo a wide
birth. To answer the questions above I’d simply have to say, “No.” The one
question is: “Do you have faith in him
that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?” My
questions is: Where are we putting our
faith – in ourselves and our cleverness? Or in the One Who made the Cape
Buffalo but then calls us to Himself to be His children and servants forever?
The answer is obvious and the results are universes apart.
Lord, the Buffalo
is there to teach is a wise or dreadful lesson: where do we put our faith? Help
us to choose wisely – amen.
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