Out Our Way: Charlie's way

Out our way, I always let Charlie lead because he knew the trails. I suspect the cattle did as well, but not necessarily which trail. You see, they knew where the trails were going but they didn’t always know where they were going. But Charlie did know, and so he moved them where they needed to go, even if it wasn’t the trail they thought they should be following.

As you have figured out, Psalm 23 is a favorite psalm, and though the Palestinian shepherd actually led the sheep because they had been raised to follow his voice, the cowboy shares a lot of common features. Granted, we “push” cows rather than lead them, and we ride a horse rather than walk, but in many other ways we are the same.

The “rod and staff” have been replaced with the rope and saddle gun, but the point of caring for and protecting the herd is the same. We are also still taking the herd to the green pastures and still waters. And both the shepherd and the herder make the stock the priority. We are there for their sake. God as our shepherd/herder is still a great image of God’s relationship with His people.

Lately, however, there is an image of God at work in my life that may fit the image of the cowboy more than the shepherd, at least in this part of the country, and certainly in my experience. And that is the fact that Charlie and I pushed cows, but we also drove them. We called it “hazing” and not only did we sometime yell, whoop, and holler, but more than once we swung rope and smacked this one or that one to get them rolling. I am sure they had no idea why we “hazed” them nor did they understand why this trail instead of that one was where they were being sent. And more than once there was a difference of opinion between cow and herder about which trail we were going to follow. But Charlie always made it clear who was in charge, and whether they understood and agreed or not, Charlie’s way was the way.

Of course, Charlie didn’t insist on the way to go because it was easier for him or because he wanted to show off his control, but because it was the best way for the cows. Truly, it was for their good that that trail was chosen, and though he might yell and push and even smack with the tail end of his rope, it was always for the greater good of the cows.

Lately, I have given some thought to that image of Charlie “hazing” cows and sending them down a trail they might not have chosen or even agreed to. And sometimes the way was hard, like crossing a creek that was maybe running a bit fast and a little high, but on the other side was where the good pasture was and it was the only way to get there. The cows protested, but it was the right way and the best way for them to go.

As some of you know, for the past few years I have been getting pushed, shoved, hazed or whatever we call it by God as I go down trails I did not choose, and often ones I have no desire to travel. No green pastures or still waters yet, just more hard trail. I bellow my complaints to God, try to turn this way or that, but always He heads me off and pushes me back on the trail He wants me to follow.

I was in church Sunday and heard a message based on Daniel 3, the “Fiery Furnace.” I was reminded how tough the trail was for the Jews when they were exiled in Babylon. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had it pretty rough as well. They were faced with being thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down and worship the king’s image, that was a trail they didn’t want to follow. But they had faith that whether God delivered them from the fire or not, if He wanted them to go that way, then that was the way they would go. Although Daniel doesn’t go into great detail, it is clear that the Jewish people and the Jewish faith were both greatly blessed, as were the three young Jews who went the right way, though not the easy way.

I thought about that and their faith that even if they, like Job and Paul — and, above all, Christ Himself — were faced with a hard trail, if it was the will of God, they trusted that will and they followed. Right now, I continue to go down a trail I did not choose and I keep walking through rough country I would just as soon avoid. But it’s the way God is sending me. Yes, he is “hazing” me, just as Charlie hazed the cows he pushed to the good pastureland they did not know and could not imagine.

I learned to trust Charlie’s way, even when I had no greater clue where it was going than the cows did. I hope to trust Christ’s Way in the same manner as He hazes me down His chosen trail, even though it is hard and confusing and I still don’t know where or why. This is not the trail I would have chosen, but then, I might never get where God is taking me by any other path. Trust the Herder!

Blessings,

Brother John Bruington