When the chips are down

There’s nothing like stepping in a warm cow pie to realize that some life experiences really stink. Super-size it and you have a buffalo chip experience.
There’s a story of a little bird who got caught in a freeze and couldn’t fly. He was about to freeze to death on the ground when a buffalo came by and dropped a big pie right on him.
I don’t know about you, but I can relate to that experience. Things are going rough and just when I think things can’t get any worse –plop!– a big stinky one is dropped on me.
I would like to say that God makes life easy for all those who love Him, but it simply is not true. Life happens, and sometimes life can be hard - even for those who love Jesus.
Most of the time we take life for granted and view it as a given. And within life there are cow pie and buffalo chip experiences. For many it’s not so much that we “have life to live” as that “we have to live life.”
But let’s get back to the little bird. Covered with the steaming buffalo chip up to his neck, he began to warm up. Feeling a lot better, the bird began to shift around, and then burst out in song. A hungry fox happened to hear him and plucked him out of the pile.
The moral of this story is that being dumped on isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and being pulled out of a situation isn’t always the best thing for us.
Sometimes we will go through a difficult experience and it will make us stronger. Often, we'll have a new appreciation for our family and friends. More often than not, we'll grow to rely on the promises of God. Jesus has told us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
“We cannot know all of God's plan and purpose, but this we can know: Life is hard, but God is good, because life with God is filled with promise, and in Him we have a Friend who is able to help us be more than conquerors in life’s situations.” (Romans 8:37-38)
So, what are we to do when we step in life’s cow pies or get dumped on? We are to go on. We are to do what we can do. We pick up the pieces and go forward the best we can, trusting that God, family, and friends will help us. We take inventory and realize anew the really important things and people in our life and embrace them. We turn to God and trust in His providence.
I can relate well to this anonymous quote: “I asked God for strength that I might achieve; I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do great things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I asked for but everything I had hoped for. Despite myself, my prayers were answered. I am, among all people, most richly blessed.”
Be most richly blessed.