Our Side of the Fence

I remember well looking down the back fence line of the pasture as I was leaving the farm.  It is a habit developed over the years.  I came back on the farm about ten minutes later and across that same fence line was the top of a tree which had fallen in some gust of wind.  Around the tree top which had pushed down the fence were all the cows in the pasture.  All ten of them had gathered there to see if there was not some way for them to get to the other side of the fence.  Now, their side of the fence had the hay, the beginnings of grass, water, mineral block, and dust bag.  Everything they needed was on their side of the fence, but all they wanted was to be on the other side.

 

Sometimes I see too much of humanity mirrored in these bovine creatures that inhabit the pasture down in front of the house.  It would seem they would be content with life as they had it, but give them a glimpse of something on the other side of the fence and they are ready to go.  Many of our problems are bred by our own inability to be content with what is on our side of the fence.  The Apostle Paul points us to a way of life that is difficult for many of us as he wrote to the Philippian Christians, "I have learned to be content with whatever I have.  I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty...." (Philippians 4:11-12)

 

Too much of our life is about striving.  Too much is about wanting more when we have enough.  Too much of life is spent in seeking something which will surely give us happiness.  Too much of life is spent in pursuing the illusion that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  God has put us where we are.  The reason we cannot be content with where we are and what we have has to do with our trust in Him.  We look to the other side of the fence because we do not trust Him to provide what we need on our side of the fence.