Falling Cows and Other Calamities
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
I Peter 5:7
The following account appeared in both Reuters and in the New York Times Magazine:
Earlier this year (1996), the dazed crew of a Japanese trawler were plucked out of the Sea of Japan clinging to the wreckage of their sunken ship.
Their rescue, however, was followed by immediate imprisonment once authorities questioned the sailors on their ship’s loss. To a man they claimed that a cow, falling out of a clear blue sky, had struck the trawler amidships, shattering its hull and sinking the vessel within minutes.
They remained in prison for several weeks, until the Russian Air Force (after having gained immunity) reluctantly informed Japanese authorities that the crew of one of its cargo planes had apparently stolen a cow wandering at the edge of a Siberian airfield, forced the cow into the plane’s hold and hastily taken off for home.
Unprepared for live cargo, the Russian crew was ill-equipped to manage a now rampaging cow within its hold. Things began to deteriorate. So, in order to save the aircraft and themselves, they shoved the animal out of the cargo hold as the plane crossed the Sea of Japan at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
Some of you are thinking, “Really??? This can’t be true!” And, indeed, the account has since been debunked as an urban legend; but it really did make those news services. And it’s a great story – it cracked me up!
Yet there’s some truth to be seen here that is no laughing matter.
There are occasions when catastrophic events seem to drop out of nowhere.
You’re making your way through what would appear to be an ordinary day and then WHAMMO! You’re rocked to the core. And as your “ship” begins sink into despair, you wonder, “Why me? Why this? Why now?”
It’s at times like this you need to turn to something that can keep you above water. Or better, Someone who can keep you above water.
When catastrophic events seem to drop out of nowhere, you need to turn to something that can keep you above water. Or better, Someone who can keep you above water.
The Apostle Peter knew well what it was like to face catastrophic events.
He knew the pain of beatings and the hardship of prison. He endured the pressures of persecution and experienced the murder of a fellow disciple and friend (James).
Such things could easily have sunk his faith. But when these events dropped on him, he knew where he could cast his anxiety. He gave it over to the One who was big enough to shoulder it all and keep him afloat.
Cast ALL your anxieties on the Lord.
And it wasn’t just the big things. Note that Peter encouraged his readers to cast all of their anxieties on the Lord. As one person put it, “If it’s big enough to worry about, it’s big enough to pray about.”
If it’s big enough to worry about, it’s big enough to pray about.
Chances are mighty slim that a cow will drop out of the sky anytime soon. But chances are very good that other events, just as random, will drop in to shatter the calm of your life.
When the happens, why not follow Peter’s advice and offload your anxiety as quickly as you can? Cast it on the One who cares for you. He’s not panicked by cows from the sky and He is big enough to handle them.
PRAYER:
Lord, I’d like to think that I can go through life without cows falling from the sky. However, I know that’s not realistic in this broken world. So, when it happens, help me to absorb the blow and then cast the anxiety on You. Thank You that You’re more than able to handle my shock, anger, and despair. And that Your care for me is real.
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