You May Only Come This Far

Since our property borders a creek, it isn’t easy to mow. It seems you are constantly claiming hills or racing towards valleys that were formed by nature to funnel rainfall into the creek. I’m one of those obsessive types that likes to look at my lawn and see row after row of perfectly manicured grass. If planned and executed properly, the cut appears to wrap my home like a pretty, green ribbon. During the hottest part of the summer, it is almost impossible for me to mow the acreage by myself as I prefer to use a self-propelled push mower. That is where the rub comes in. I must turn over a portion of my lawn to my husband’s care and his big, heavy, zero turn mower with an extra wide cutting deck. I mow slow and precise; he mows fast and furious!  In his haste to get the job done, he sometimes scalps my grass to the dirt! But, since I do need his help, I mow the portion around the house, and he mows the acreage. Sometimes he inches his way into my territory. So, I begin each mow by quickly cutting a boundary in the grass that yells, “You may only come this far!”

Life mimics a hard to mow lawn. How many hills have we climbed? How many valleys have we raced towards?  I’ve even asked God for help and had the nerve to tag on, “You may only come this far!” Why the boundary? Like my husband, sometimes God must cut deep to get the job done. We must learn to surrender fully to God and trust Him in all things.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6