"Never"

I never saw a heifer,

Showing gentle, good behavior,

But all were just as crazy as could be.

The ones my daddy brought in,

No telling where they had been,

Jumped and tore up fences, don’t you see.

More like deer than bovine,

And if you worked ‘em you’d find,

They’d eat you up if they had the chance,

God help you if you penned ‘em,

‘Cause if you ever hemmed ‘em,

They’d teach you how to do a hoochie dance.

We dodged some and we roped ‘em,

We gave ‘em shots and doped ‘em,

We calved ‘em, tried to sell ‘em off as pairs.

And sometimes made some money,

But let me tell you, honey,

We earned every single dime that was our share.

I never did forget it,

And soon as I could quit it,

I went back to running steers awhile.

And when someone brought up heifers,

Though I’m not into nevers,

I’d shake my head and say no with a smile.

Hey, you know some folks plainly,

Are not the ones who mainly,

Are there because you can do them good.

In fact there is a danger,

Worse than some old threatening stranger,

Though you would try to help them if you could.

Truth is, someone else will,

Connect with them and until,

They are sent to do what others can’t.

All you’ll do is frustrate,

When God says time to just wait,

Someone sent will have the seeds to plant.

“It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seeds grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:7, NLT)

God sends us to help people with their spiritual lives. But that doesn’t mean we can help everybody. Some people, like those heifers, are dangerous for us. Someone else will be sent by God to help them. We may plant some seeds, but it is up to God to send those who will water and perhaps bring forth the harvest. We are called to connect or disconnect with people as the Lord leads us. He knows how to make us the most productive. We should stay away from some people entirely because they would pose too great a challenge for us to overcome. God will give us His wisdom to know what and how and when and with whom we can do the most good.

Lord, send us to the people we can help the most, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tim Cox, timcox.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Tim, and God bless you.