The other day while I was cleaning the corral, I noticed my horse Frank. He was busily trying to scratch an itch on his hind end but was unable to reach it with his teeth. I was about to go over and give him a good rub when he made a smart move. He walked over to a row of stumps, about eighteen to twenty inches high, then positioned himself so as to be able to lift and place his left hind hoof on one of them. With his hoof thus situated he moved in such a way as to stretch his leg out at just the right angle, drawing it forward enough to allow him to reach that itchy patch and find some satisfaction. Wow. I was so impressed. I had no idea that a horse was that smart!
Perhaps today, some of us have an itch that we just can’t satisfy either. We are lonely, or sad. We are bored or fed up with our jobs. We are sick and long for health. We are overwhelmed or frustrated. We long to find relief from this irritation that is making us uncomfortable and dissatisfied. If so, then like Frank, we need to make the smart move. We need to lift the eyes of our heart to a higher place.
“I call on the Lord in my distress and he answers me.” Psalm 120:1 NIV
“I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1, 2 NIV
“God is able to guide and direct us along the right path to find satisfaction amidst our dilemma, large or small, whatever it may be.”
In Psalm 81: 10 the psalmist wrote: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. God longs to fill us up with Himself, for then and only then can we find true contentment in any and every situation.”
Just as the apostle Paul had when he penned these words from prison: “I have learned to be content in whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11b-13 NIV
So if you’ve got an itch today that you just can’t find any satisfaction from, make the smart move. Lift the eyes of your heart to a higher place and discover the satisfaction and contentment that God longs to bless you with even amidst your situation.
Prayer: Father God thank you that in Your strength we can learn to be content amidst any and every situation in life that seeks to make us itch for other than that which we have. Help us to be a people who make the smart move amidst any and all difficult circumstances. The move to life the eyes of our heart to a higher place: You, in whom all satisfaction is discovered. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Lynne Phipps Atlin, B.C.