Never gives up

Unseasonably warm weather in the northeast of Scotland. Despite all the redecorating jobs indoors, I dallied outside to clear away some of autumn’s dead leaves and branches. A noise broke through my thought-processes. The sound of many hooves, on the move. The occasional lowing as most of a herd of cows wandered up the road in search of food.

What do I know about herding cows? Enough to know that it’s harder than it looks.

By the time I reached the end of the drive, a farmer approached in his tractor. They weren’t his cows, but he knew whose they were. A few loud yells from him and the herd turned and headed back to where they belonged. The movement of his tractor kept them retracing their steps.

‘They’re hungry,’ he explained. ‘They’ve been left in the same field all winter and there’s no more to be eaten. They need to be moved.’

He expressed some frustration with the other farmer.

The steadfast love of the Lord shows itself in the unending mercies which come our way. He never leaves us in the desert without giving us food. Even during wintry seasons of life, he provides. We never need to break out in search of more.

And yet often we do. And the Lord’s grace and mercy ushers us back into safe territory where we can graze on his life-giving word.

I am profoundly grateful that he never gives up on me.