"On Time" - Brad McClain

One time we had a gather,

In the fall when time to ship,

Knew we’d have a lather,

Before those pastures flipped.

But we plumb outran the cattle,

Which was a big surprise,

‘Cause our time in the saddle,

Was mostly catch-up, that’s no lies.

Those old crazy bovine,

Were hard to find and pen,

And you had to push your equine,

Or you’d lose ‘em all  and then,

It made a hot and sweaty day,

When the sun was gettin’ high,

If you let ‘em get away,

Best an early, cooler try.

But we never gave a single thought,

‘Bout getting’ far ahead,

Move quick to get the cattle caught,

Least that’s what Daddy said.

And so when those steers pi-ied,

We had to shift and track,

Make a bigger circle wide,

And try to take up slack.

Flying on a brushy trail,

My nose hit square a limb,

And now I have a tale to tell,

Under my hat brim,

I thought I might to death just bleed,

My cowboy shirt ran red,

But we got around those steers with speed,

And got ‘em turned instead.

Aside from that old limb attack,

Nothing else went wrong,

We got all the cattle back,

And right where they belong.

Here are lessons that I learned,

The hard way if you will,

Early get the cattle turned,

And don’t slow up until.

Don’t get stuck on ready, aim,

You’ll never shoot a thing,

Some just shoot, no one to blame,

It’s eagerness they bring.

Don’t be late or you will lose,

It’s very common known,

But if you rush whene’er you choose,

You’ll still be error-prone.

And I hear the Good Lord say,

Don’t run ahead of Me,

Listen close and then obey,

You’ll be on time, you see..

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14, NAS)

I used to think that God was mostly waiting on us. I have come to understand, however, that waiting on God’s timing is truly important, and running ahead of the Lord is a perilous proposition. Being on target and on time means we can count on the full measure of grace to empower us. Otherwise things are not exactly right, and we end up wishing we had waited. This doesn’t mean that while we wait we do nothing. God has not called us to be passive. We obey the Lord in what we know we should do, until we receive specific leadership to do the next thing He says.

Lord, teach us Your timing, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mikel Donahue, used by permission. Thanks, Mikel, and God bless you.