A few years ago, when I was struggling with understanding God’s plan for this world, a good friend shared this story with me:

There are these cows that stand at the gate of a huge ranch every day around dinnertime. They stand there, chomping on grass as they watch the rancher ride up the long driveway in his pick-up truck. And they continue to watch as the rancher arrives at the gate, uses a remote control to open the gate and drive through to go home for the night. He then uses the remote to close the gate behind him, nods at the cows as they chomp their grass, and drives away for dinner. The cows have absolutely no understanding of how the gate opens; they just see it happen every day. Even if the rancher got out of his truck, walked over to them, showing them the remote and explaining in detail how it worked, they still wouldn’t understand. They would simply chomp their grass and live in the moment, just like any other night. For, you see, the language of the rancher is completely beyond the grasp of the cows. The beautiful part of the story is that the cows don’t need to know how the remote works. The cows are perfectly content to chomp their grass and watch the rancher. Somehow, they know that within that gate they have all they need.

My friend shared this story to illustrate to me what it would look like if God attempted to explain to me how his plan for the world worked. Even if he did sit down next to me and explain everything, I still wouldn’t understand. For, you see, the vision of God is completely beyond the perception of a human.

I have used this story many times over the past few years when attempting to help others let go of the need to know the why’s, where’s and when’s of God’s plan. Sometimes it is helpful, other times it is not (it really depends on the cow who is hearing the story!). For me, it is a brilliant reminder of the need to remain humble, to accept that I will never understand everything, and, that in trying to figure it all out, I only rob myself of the peace that comes with faith in God. This story simply reminds me that all I really need to do is stay within the gate of my Rancher, chomp my grass, and live in the moment.