One day John Wesley was strolling with one of his dear friends through the farmlands of England. He was deeply troubled and having a difficult time talking about his problem.
Stopping in front of a cow that had separated herself from the herd, Wesley asked, “Do you know why that cow is looking over the fence?”
“No,” said his friend.
“Because she can’t look through it,” he replied.
The Psalmist encourages us to “look over the fence.” He wrote, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heavens and earth.” As long as we look at our problem, it will look right back at us. But if we look over the problem and look to our Lord, the Psalmist promises us that He will come and help us.
Focusing on a problem, any problem, even a problem larger than life, gets us no place. Often we treat our problems as a cow treats her cud - we “roll” it up into the “worry area” of our mind and chew on it until there is nothing left in our minds but the problem. It consumes us because we refuse to “look over” it and ask the Person who brought it into our lives to solve it.
The Psalmist reminds us that God, Who wants to be our problem-solver is the same God who “is the Maker of heaven and earth.” Imagine, if you will, the brilliance of God: Everywhere we look in His universe we are reminded of this fact. We must “look over” and “look to” Him.
Prayer: Help us, Lord, to look to You whenever we need answers, solutions or decisions for things that threaten our faith. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture for Today: Psalm 121:1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?