Unseen Help
A sweaty horse and a wise farmer teach us about faith.
A stranger in town lost his way and, just outside of town, decided to spin around in a U-turn. Distracted by a farmer plowing in the field with a single, sweaty horse instead of a shiny John Deere the stranger dropped his car into the ditch. Now, not only was he lost but he was stuck. Before he could think of calling for help the farmer detached the plow from his horse and came over, offering the services of his horse to muscle the man's car out of the mud. The man kindly accepted.
The farmer hitched up the horse to the car and then hollered, "Pull, Rocket, pull!" Nothing happened. "Not to worry," the man thought, "this horse knows how to work. He'll get the job done."
The farmer hollered a second time, "Pull, Strider, pull!" Nothing happened again, and at the same time the man became less concerned about the lazy horse and more concerned about the crazy farmer.
He hollered a third time, "Pull, Buddy, pull!" The muscles in the horse's neck and legs tensed up, rippling their power into a burst of energy that popped the man's car out of the ditch in an instant. "You're all set," the farmer kindly offered.
"Uh, thanks," the man muttered. But he had to ask, "But does your horse have a problem with names?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," the farmer explained with a bit of embarrassment, "Ol' Buddy here is blind, and he does his best work when he thinks he's part of a team."
Stuck in a rut you can't get out of? Facing a deadline you don't think you can handle? Disappointed in yourself that you haven't become the better person you had promised on January 1? Finding it hard to forgive your sister? Wishing you could think, decide, and behave more like a Christian than you've been doing? Then start pulling, my friend, because you're part of a team! Your partner is Jesus Christ!
Christians often find ourselves blind to the reality that we are "thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17). So we need to hear the voice of our Master, again and again, reminding us that we are connected to him by our baptism as much as his baptism connected him to us. Baptized in the Jordan, Jesus took up our cause and identified himself with humanity. Baptized into Jesus, we have become children of God, temples of the Holy Spirit, and partners with Jesus in a God-pleasing life of doing our Father's will.
We do our best work when we trust in the promises of God that connect us to Christ, and with him all things are possible. So put your faith into action along with your intentions, and start pulling.
PRAYER: Savior Jesus, you have promised to be with me always, and you have united me to your death, burial, and resurrection by my baptism. Strengthen me when I am weak, and share your holy energy with me when I struggle. Call to me with your comforting words and cheering encouragements, that I might listen to your Word and live a full life as your partner and a child of our heavenly Father. Amen.