Consider the cows in the field

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  --Matthew 6:25

Last week I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a quiz.  The question that everyone was invited to answer was a multiple choice test: How may stomachs does a cow have?  The choices were one, two, four, or eight.  I dug deep into the recesses of my brain, dug through the compendium of useless knowledge I have accumulated, and said aloud the correct answer.  It is, of course, four.

I spent about four seconds wondering how I knew that tidbit of information.  I am a city boy, born and bred.  My grandmother's second husband was a farmer, and I spent one summer living with them when I was young.  They had a horse, but no cows.  I do know my great uncle owned a ranch with several head of cattle, but I never visited him and my great aunt for more than two hours at a time very infrequently.  After they passed away, my grandmother was the executor of their estate; I was in need of a place to live temporarily, so I did spend a summer in the ranch house until I found an apartment in the city.  All that to say my bovine experience is limited, at best.

The next thought I had was a bit more esoteric.  Do cows know they have four stomachs?  How self aware are they, really?  Perhaps no one knows for sure, but my mind went in to anthropomorphic mode, and I answered my own question in my imagination, as if I actually knew what a cow might be thinking.  My reasoned answer was no, they may not know they have four stomachs, but they do know when they are hungry. All animals experience hunger, and this is something that I do actually have experience with.  Logically, the circle was closed, at least in my mind.

This begs the question:  do cows worry about where their next meal is coming from?  My experience and education are more with commercial dairies or pastures of beef cattle, not necessarily the sacred cows that might roam the streets of Calcutta or Mumbai.  As such, I know that the dairy farmers and cattle ranchers have a vested interest in keeping their cattle fed.  It is in their financial interest to make sure that each cow is well fed. 

Do the cows know this?  Probably not.  But they do know by experience that they are allowed in the verdant fields in the Spring and Summer months to munch on the green grass to their hearts' content, and in the Fall and Winter, when pastures are not as green, their diets turn to hay and other grains, which the farmer or rancher brings in by truck.

I have seen ranchers carry hay bales in their pickup trucks out to the feed pens in their pastures.  The cows may hear the truck engine, or the rancher may honk his horn or call out with his voice to let the cattle know to congregate.  Now, cows do not run fast.  Some may amble up to the pen slowly, and may never actually see the rancher.  They may see the tailgate of the truck as he drives away before they turn their attention to the hay that has been provided for them by the rancher's hand.

Here's the point.  Scripture rightly says, "No one has ever seen God."  But we do see God's provision. Romans 1:19-20 says, "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse."  The evidence of God is so obvious in His creation that at the Day of Judgement, even those who have never heard of God will be judged based on the evidence He has shown them of Himself.

The Bible also says, "The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but He thwarts the craving of the wicked." (Proverbs 10:3).  Do you think that cows ever get together and discuss theories of where the hay comes from, theories that discount the existence of the rancher?  "I believe the vehicle marked FORD F-150 is a UFO, and it brings the hay from outer space," quips one nerdy cow.  "Ridiculous!" shouts one wise, old cow.  "The hay obviously evolved from inert matter.  Billions of seasons ago there was a big bang, and all of this energy infused into non-hay cells to give them the potential of becoming food for us.  It's scientific!"  Some inquisitive calf may ask, "Yes, but how does it get to our feed pen?"  The scientist cow may nod knowingly, "The evidence suggests that hay grows in the back of the pickup truck; it must get nutrients for it's growth from the metal in the truck bed.  After all, the pickup is an autonomous unit that travels an orbital circuit around the barn."

Ludicrous, right?  It is much easier to believe in God than to have faith in scientific theories that evolve with every generation of scientist.  Our God is unchanging.  Those of us who have faith know that God gives sustenance to the Earth and to all of us specifically.  Psalm 37:25 says, "I  have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken."  Like the cows in our example, we know that He will provide, not from any hope of financial gain or economic advantage, but because of His unfailing love.

Let's go one step further. Does the cow know that her milk is consumed by humans all over the world, and in various forms?  Does she know that it can be changed into butter, cream, yogurt, and cheeses of various kinds?  Let's go out on a limb here and say no.  They only know that they are milked every morning.  This may not be a very comfortable experience for them, I don't know.

I do know that sometimes we as humans wonder what our purpose is.  We look at our boring lives--we wake up, we go to work, we go home, we go to bed, rinse and repeat.  What could be the purpose of that in the grand scheme of things?

We must remember that the same God who provides the home and the food and the clothing and even the job that we use to pay for all of this---this same God can use us to bless others in ways we cannot even imagine. He purposely puts people in our path to bless us, or to receive a blessing from us.  Our job is to remain faithful.

The Bible speaks more of shepherds and sheep than of ranchers and cows.  Psalm 23 is a prime example.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

We don't have to second-guess God's motives.  We only need to experience His goodness, and by His grace acknowledge that He is the source of all good things.  We are more self-aware than cows; we know we have one stomach.  As God progressively reveals Himself to us, we know He feeds us.  We hear His voice, and we are drawn to Him.  As a result, we are blessed.  In turn, we bless the herd as well.