Close the Barn Door!

When I was a boy, it was my responsibility to shut the barn door at night.  Now, you might at first thought believe that to be an easy job—swing the door shut and secure the latch.  But what you don’t know is the journey from the house, which took you past the pump house with the water pump sounding spooky with ker-splash, ker-splash, and under the darkness of the gigantic cottonwood tree, then finally to the barn.
 
Did I say there was a gigantic cottonwood tree?  So big and tall was it that the sun did not shine through it.  The leaves rustled in the wind---oh yes, it was an ominous tree.  On one of its branches lived the dreaded tiger, hungry tiger.  I never saw him, but I knew he was there.
 
So shutting the barn door was easy.  The journey, the path to that task wasn’t so easy.  There was danger on the trip.  There was uncertainty if I would safely return to the house.
 
How much is life like that journey to the barn?  Full of danger, steaming with uncertainty, and sometimes trembling with fear---so it is with life.  Yes, that simple task of latching the barn door taught me many lessons of life.
 
So you think that I had an overactive imagination.  Let’s make a deal.  I’ll take you there after dark and you can walk from the house, under the cottonwood tree, to the barn.  I’ll wait for you to return to the house.  I know that tiger still lives in that tree.  We’ll see if you make it back.
 
Every night I experienced what Daniel did in the lion’s den.  The Lord protected him and me.  He protects you as well.  Blessed be the name of the Lord---all the way to the barn and back!!
 
Just like you, I am blessed and highly favored,
Pastor Allan
© 2019 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved