Goat Crossing - Step Carefully

Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

In Budapest, a man goes to the rabbi and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?"

The rabbi answers, "Take your goat into the room with you." The man in incredulous, but the rabbi insists. "Do as I say and come back in a week."

A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. "We cannot stand it," he tells the rabbi. "The goat is filthy."

The rabbi then tells him, "Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week."

A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, "Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there's no goat — only the nine of us."

This is a funny story but how many of us know how to be truly thankful in the face of trial? Life on earth is a trial, Scripture tells us to expect it to be so, yet we are continually surprised to find we face one trial after another. If we only praise God in the times of no trials, there won’t be much praising going on, will there?

If we look at our life trials as our ‘life in one room with nine people’ it is easy to see where we might think our situation unbearable. As one who prefers X amount of hours alone each day, this would be very difficult for me, I won’t lie! Life in a room with nine people would be a blessing to one who lives on the street or in a place of natural disaster where homes are swept away. A roof and four walls would greatly appreciated and something for which to give thanks.

‘Goats’ come in all forms and fashions. We all have our own ‘goats’ and maybe we need a little time with the goat to appreciate life without it. The ‘goats’ are not the biggest problem we face. Our biggest challenge is learning to praise in all circumstances, not just when the goat moves out. Anyone would give praise then, it is the praising and giving thanks before, during and after the goat that separates us from the masses when we are His 'sheep'.  

We have Jesus every day in every circumstance, practice being thankful every day. If we’re struggling, let’s praise God in complete thankfulness for all the good things He's done. He deserves all of our praise regardless of our circumstance.