Raven Feather, my daughter’s beloved Appaloosa mare, now romps the grounds of Heaven. To say the least, Raven, her entire life on earth and beyond, communicates much wisdom and deep love to her entire human clan. Without question, Raven did (and does) lavish sage insight and, at times, comical relief when most needed by her two footed family. Even the paradise of Heaven’s grasslands hasn’t strayed this mare from caring about her family. Take for instance last night.
It’s been a mountainous season for all my kin. Some mountains produce blessings. Others seem the opposite. Our family bag has been a mixture of both. However, undisputable fact is that all mountains give rise to stress, exhaustion and the need to regenerate. When rapid fire mountainous paths bombard, more often than naught, automatic focus and survival become a nonstop, pigeonhole, climbing skirmish. Thus, it’s no surprise Raven Feather needed to redirect her family’s mountain range battle plans.
The heart of Raven’s tidings was, in her own whinny, “You need to take time to walk in green pastures, not just climb mountains”. Let’s ponder these words.
Satan has submerged 2024 in myriads of worldly mountains, continually blocking our heaven bound trails. One after the other, we embark on ascending each and every mountain believing that, in so doing, we are following God’s course for our journey. But are we??? Does God command us to mountains or call us to green pastures??? What’s more, if God has truly called us to a mountain, is our strength to surmount it fueled by our capability of physical endurance, or by God’s gift of spiritual rest in Him and Him alone??? Physical endurance is beating the opposition. Spiritual rest is retreating into unbeatable power — the arms of God.
Even non-Christians can quote the beginning of Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.” Christians are called not just to quote but also to personify. Do we??? Are we too attached to climbing on our feet to be able to lie down in God’s strength, detach from our own efforts and fasten our challenges, needing to be surmounted, to the power of God??? Is the rock before us or the green pastures beneath us our fueling (and re-fueling) source??? Is our purpose (and, most importantly, God’s purpose for us) seeded, rooted and blossomed by climbing stone or by reclining in green pastures???
The message of Raven’s neigh was directly communicated for Britt, but drops of Raven’s whinny sagely spray over the needs of all my family herd — most likely yours, too!!!
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 