cattle on a thousand hills...

Seems like it's almost every conversation these days where someone mentions "the economy." I know it's a big deal, and a very difficult reality for many people. Or for most people. (I'm no stranger to financial difficulties myself!) But, as for me and my house (that would be me and...me!), we are choosing to serve the Lord.

Oh, I don't mean that in any self-righteous or trite way. It's just that, for me, I have to keep my focus on where my food, my finances, my car--my everything, really--come from. It is not by the strength of my own hands or the great abilities of my own mind/talents. I only have those because they were given to me in the first place. As for my job, that is also by the grace of God and His providence.

You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, ~Deuteronomy 8:17-18

I have to daily remind myself NOT to be anxious, NOT to fret, NOT to worry... about my life, my needs, my country, the economy, the world... it is far too big for me to think that one bit of my anxiety will change any of it. My anxiety will only change ME. But not in any way that I want to be changed.

When I start to worry about finances, I remind myself that my Father is a universe-class rancher! He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (and so much more)! (And every now and then, I ask Him to kick one of those 'cash cows' down the hill to me... so far, He hasn't, but it doesn't hurt to ask!)

"...for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." ~Psalm 50:10

( Wait a minute! What kind of crazy cows are those striped ones?!?! What....??? Wait a ... hey! THOSE AREN'T COWS!!! They're...are they...?.... they're zebras!!)

(yes, that's really what they are! I couldn't resist throwing these photos into the mix for a smile or two... I'll tell you about them another time, if you're interested in knowing why the zebras are hobnobbin' with the cows!)

Anyway... as I was saying... I must fix my eyes on the Giver of all good gifts so I do not become discouraged by the seemingly dismal circumstances in which we seem to find ourselves as a nation and as individuals. I have to trust that God--Jehovah Jireh--is my Provider. He knows my needs and will take care of me. I long to be like Paul and say I have learned to trust Him in plenty and in want.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ~ Philippians 4:12

I know I'm not there yet, but I am working on it. On a daily basis. Hourly. Minute by minute.

For I know that is the kind of contentment I desire. That is the kind of peace which I must pursue.

And the best part about it is that God does not withhold good things from us. He does not keep us on the outside of where the "good stuff" is. He invites us into His presence...to drink of Him...to taste and see that He is good.

"...Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. ~Malachi 3:10