"Wobble Heads"

We used to call them “wobble heads,”

When they came out the brush,

Wild ones mean, and rarely seen,

Escaping in a rush.

You had to go and get ‘em,

They hid so well you see,

Most with horns, you’d fight the thorns,

Try not to bust a knee.

Good dogs would help us gather,

And when they pushed ‘em out,

Here they’d come, son of a gun,

A wobbling head, no doubt.

Unless you’ve really seen it,

You won’t know what I mean,

Their gait was fast, their heads were cast,

From side to side so keen.

I’ve seen the wild cow milkin’,

In the old ranch rodeo,

And time a-robbin’, head a-bobbin’,

Those cows put on a show.

I’ll say they were good mamas,

‘Cause they’d protect a calf,

They’ve got the snort, and hard to sort,

When they go runnin’ past.

It took a lot of effort,

To get these cattle caught,

They’d stretch your twine and make you whine,

‘Bout trouble that you bought.

But now I really miss ‘em,

Those old crazy wobble heads,

Our stock seems tame, a different game,

We toll ‘em in instead.

Maybe the Good Lord knows it,

And thinks the same of us,

When we hide, and won’t abide,

Or come to Him in trust.

He’ll take down His old lariat,

And get the help He needs,

To gather ‘cause we matter,

His grace the Spirit seeds.

We might be like the wobble heads,

More than we will admit,

But God above pursues with love,

His mercy will not quit.

“I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence!” (Psalm 139:7, NLT)

That’s great, right? He’s always there and we can’t escape from Him. But that is not great if you’re trying to run from Him. Then it makes you uncomfortable to think about God always seeing you, pursuing you and with you. When my mother was growing up as a child, her church had a huge, blue eye-ball painted on the from wall of their worship space. Under the eye were big, bold words: “The All-Seeing Eye of God.” Which would, or at least could, make you feel that God was watching you to catch you doing something wrong. Truth is, God loves us so much He can’t keep His eyes off of us. He’s after us because He wants us to be in fellowship with Him. And when we know it, and are sure of it, everything changes for the better!

Lord, help us realize that no matter how we might run from You, You are always right there, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mike Capron, used by permission. Thanks, Mike, and God bless you.