The Longhorn Vantage Point

by Marci Wilson-Boggs

One sunny day a few years ago as I was outside walking my German shepherd, I discovered a new perspective about our viewpoint versus God’s viewpoint.

As I was walking along a curvy wide paved path near my neighborhood, there was a shallow canal full of water to the left, and just past the canal on the other side was a (probably man-made) three or four foot earthy hill. Just behind the hill was a cattle fence. Behind that cattle fence that day I saw a giant longhorn bull looking right at me, with horns at least three feet wide. That bull was huge, and while it was just standing calmly still, I immediately felt intimidated by the sheer size of that massive animal.

My German shepherd curiously smelled something, and started leaning toward the canal, sniffing into the air. I immediately pulled the leash back a little, and then realized he could not see the bull, but he could certainly smell it. From his height, his eyes could only see the hill, and not the bull behind it. That’s when it hit me.

Sometimes in my life when I felt like God pulled me back from some random curiosity, I was possibly being spared from real danger that I could not see. In Isaiah 55:9, the Bible says, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For all the times I felt that I was being held back, or reigned in, or maybe even misunderstood, perhaps God was protecting me from something I could not perceive. That’s where trust comes in. When we cannot see over the big hill, or over our current circumstance, we must trust that God sees from a much higher vantage point, and guides our paths if we will follow obediently. I am learning to trust that when things don’t go the way I am expecting, God may have another plan, and my job is to pray, meditate, and listen for Divine guidance. The Lord knows what’s on the other side, and I trust that I will be led in the paths of righteousness as a beloved child of God. May you be clearly and confidently cognizant of the Divine wisdom guiding your life today.