Jesus makes it perfectly clear that Faith and Worry don’t keep company. Faith usually chooses Joy as a dancing partner. Worry never leads and looks to Temptation or Distraction for a good time. Change happens; managing it well is a faith process.
My husband and I are getting older. So are you. So is everyone. Some just start sooner.
We look into the future knowing we can’t maintain our present pace. It’s tempting to worry, to seek options today for what we know is coming one day. Is that smart? Practical?
Or does our concern look more like ugly Worry?
Peace and Worry are Strangers
I don’t know what you heard, but Peace and Worry never met one another. When it comes to connections, Peace, Faith, and Joy are inseparable.
A dozen years ago we had well over two hundred acres of pastures and woods. We bred high-end Quarter Horses, I trained and judged, we had a small cow-calf operation, raised a few donkeys, and baled our own hay. The sixty-plus critters and extensive facility required lots of maintenance. So did the machinery.
The first year I did my own hay the round baler broke down in the field. I traced all the moving parts and located the problem. I needed a shim. One arm wasn’t quite in line with another. I called a friend who’d raised hay since dirt was new. He told me to get a three-pound hammer and whack it a good one.
I was aghast! The baler was lightly used, but still cost a few bucks. Hit it? This fine piece of engineering? But I did, and learned that brute force is often the best repair for stubborn hay equipment.
Back then we didn’t have any help. Today I can’t imagine how we did it!
Down-Sizing and Caring for Elderly Parents
Eventually we down-sized to 18 acres of coastal fields and eight horses. The horse market collapsed and we got out while the getting was good. We spent a year caring for my in-laws before they passed away. Then, for one brief moment, I basked in the ease of getting everything done.
Oddly enough, that’s when God led me to writing and ministry. Almost as if He had a plan.
We didn’t have any help on our 18-acre place and God moved us again, just about the time we realized it was getting more difficult to keep it up. Almost He had a plan.
Change is Inevitable—So is God
Now we have less than seven acres, five horses, two dogs, two cats, and live in the barn. The pasture only looks good one or two months a year, so the horses are like giant hamsters. Everything they eat we give them. Giant hamster houses and paddock are cleaned twice a day.
If the horses get exercise, one of us in involved. When it comes to physical fitness, my ponies are not self-starters. I had an equine treadmill at my Arizona training facility and briefly considered getting another. It’s the equine version of a hamster-wheel. Since I’m not “in the business” anymore the cost was a total deal-breaker.
The day is coming when we won’t be able to keep up. Something will need to change.
And it will.
But we’re okay for today. Everybody’s good. We can do what we do because we still do what we do.
It’s true, use it or lose it.
Even so — one day we won’t be able to keep up. Five horses will be too many. We’ll either need help or less to steward.
When that day comes, God will have a plan.
Change is inevitable. When you need a new option, it’ll show up. But not before you need it.
If you’re good for today, enjoy.
That doesn’t mean you don’t save for retirement. Or fail to consider the cost of raising children before having them. That would be foolish. God doesn’t smile at fools.
When Life Changes, so do Your Options
When God rearranges life He rearranges options. I have faith that God will have the perfect plan when needed because He hasn’t failed me yet. His plans and mine weren’t always the same, but His were right.
Today I see two possible paths forward. One is graceful and gradual down-sizing. That one’s my idea. It’s practical and makes sense. Surprisingly, the other is expanding my horse program. Doing more, not less. Growing, not declining. The way it stands today, I’m not giving odds. God will move things one direction or the other. I’m good either way.
Change will come. Trust God. Have faith. You may not see the way out of some future dilemma, but if you haven’t noticed, the future never arrives.
It’s always today. God provides for today. Tomorrow’s dilemma is tomorrow’s problem. Not today’s.
Worry pays fortune tellers and crystal ball gazers. God doesn’t smile at them, either.
Faith praises as awesome Father Who never fails or forgets. He has eternity planned. You’re safe.
Dance with Joy.
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