Buffalo

I did a spiritual retreat yesterday for a class of mine, so I went to the Stoney Indian Park Campground about 30 km west of Cochrane, AB. I sat upon a plateau and looked over a gorgeous plain to the south and the majestic Canadian Rockies that had a slight dusting of snow to the west, and just down the gravel road about a 45 second walk was a buffalo ranch. I stood about 100 yards away from some mammoth buffalo and watched them watch me. I am so glad they were penned in, because I could hear their deep grunts as they let me know they did not like me there, but I stayed anyway and watched their calves jump and play. I have had buffalo meat before and I really enjoy it - it is more lean than Alberta Beef (the best and leanest beef in the world)- and I was looking at these buffalo and envisioning eating some good Tatonka (buffalo) burgers.

I was at the same campground about 2 weeks ago and the buffalo were on the plain, and I couldn't help but wonder how much simpler life was 200 years ago. There were only about 100 head of buffalo that I could see on the ranch, but I wish I was around when there were tens of thousands at one time. To hear the roar of their stampede, and feel the earth shake as the heard came through would be amazing and terrifying at the same time.

I guess it would be much like God. For most of us, we see small doses of God. What I mean by that is we are not really longing for Him. When God shows up, it is really cool - like watching those penned in buffalo, but what would happen if God showed up in full force like ten thousand buffalo? What if we longed for God to really show up in our lives? What would happen if the terror of the LORD fell upon us and we were faced with the grotesqueness of our sin compared to His righteousness? I think we would be scared stupid, much like being caught in the middle of a stampede of ten thousand buffalo on a flat Albertan plain.

There was a man in the Bible named Isaiah, who came face to face to God in the Temple in Jerusalem. His response was, "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." He knew he was going to die when faced with the holiness of God. If you are brave enough to come face to face with your sins, click here, then click on "are you a good person on the bottom right. By the way, here is another little resource for you. Just so you know that you are not going to live forever and you will come face to face with God one day, click here.
Get ready for the buffalo stampede!