Our Side of the Fence

It is likely that some urban dwellers might romanticize life on a farm.  Regardless of the circumstances of our life, we all are tempted to think the grass in greener on the other side of the fence.  Seldom is this true.  While it may be different in other places, one of the things learned in these retirement years on the farm is that life can be difficult and hard even when surrounded by the constant beauty of creation.  It is a great joy to see new calves being born around here, but there was nothing joyful about the morning task of pulling an unborn calf from her mother and seeing it lifeless on the ground.  It made for a harsh moment in what some might think to be life in utopia.     

Where God has planted each one of us is part of His plan and purpose for us.  Where we are will always have its joyful moments, but the harsh ones will come to us as well.  This is true on both sides of the fence.  An often quoted verse is found in Jeremiah 29:11.  In it the Word of God speaks, saying, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."  What we cannot always understand, or figure out is not empty of divine purpose.     

To be envious of another's circumstances is an exercise is foolishness for God is at work in our life regardless of the circumstances through which we walk.  Life is not coincidental, but providential.  Could it not be that where we are, experiencing the joys and sorrows inherent within our life is about God's care for us?  Learning to be content and keeping our eyes on our side of the fence may at times be hard, but to seek to live with such an attitude speaks of a desire to live by faith in the One who has created us and who keeps on sustaining us.