…For Trouble is Near

“Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help Me. Many bulls have surrounded Me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.” Psalm 22:11-12

Several years ago I was managing a jobsite that had 2 or 3 hundred dump truck loads of extra dirt that needed removed from the site. There was a man nearby who had a pasture that had some valleys with trees on it. He said we could fill some of his valleys if we regraded, topsoiled and reseeded. He just wanted us to let him know when we would start so he could move his cows to another pasture. So we agreed.

When we were about halfway done, we received rain during the night, and I stopped by in the morning to walk it to see if it would be dry enough to truck in the following day. When I pulled up to the gate, I received a phone call from a foreman who needed me on another job. So I left to help him. Later that morning I came back, and when I went to unlock the gate, my phone rang again. This time it was from an inspector who wanted me to meet him on a different jobsite as early as possible, if I could. So again, I left. It was late afternoon when I was able to come back a third time to check the pasture. I unlocked the gate and began to enter, when… a third time, my phone rang. It was the farm manager. He said, “Hey Tom, tell your people not to enter the pasture until I say it’s ok! A bull got loose last night and a cow’s in heat…and he’s extremely agitated and dangerous right now. He would charge and harm any thing or anyone!”

I quickly closed and locked the gate, and drove away.

3 times I almost walked, unknowingly, into a very dangerous situation. And 3 times, unknowingly, I was spared.

From that day on, I trusted He is my Good Shepherd, “though I may walk through a valley of the shadow of death…”

As we go through our day, I pray we realize there ARE “bulls of darkness” surrounding us, encircling our thoughts, to torment and to kill…if not for God being near.

Honor Him in what you know…Trust Him in what you don’t.