The Buffalo

right . The American buffalo is a magnificent creature . The American buffalo is a magnificent creature . I remember several years ago my family and I traveled across the northern portion of the United States , from Washington , across Idaho , through Montana and into North Dakota . There were several places where we saw large herds of buffalo .

They're magnificent and I can only imagine what it would have been like when there were monstrous herds of them running across the plains of North America . I learned something recently about buffalo , though . That's

quite interesting . You see , when storms approach buffalo , they instinctively face the storm and then they move towards the storm . They don't run away like other animals would , trying to find shelter . Instead , they go directly into that storm . They don't run away like other animals would trying to find shelter . Instead , they go directly into that storm .

This article talked about why they do that , and apparently the answer applies to their approach to adversity . See , buffalo tend to approach adversity , whatever it might be , head on . They almost never run away from a challenge , and apparently they also know that if they go towards the storm ,

they'll probably get through it more quickly than if they try to run away from it . When I read about that , I realized how distinctly different a powerful , beautiful animal like a buffalo is than we are as human beings . For most of us , our tendency is to run away from storms instead of facing them .

It's a common instinct within us to avoid discomfort , uncertainty and adversity . We've talked about it several times over the last couple weeks . We all seek comfort , we all seek safety . We want to run away from anything that threatens our sense of security . There is a lesson about facing our storms that we can learn from these mighty buffalo .

In Proverbs , chapter 24 , verse 10 , it says If you faint in the day of adversity , your strength is small . Challenges are an inevitable part of life , and how we respond to them really defines our character . Over in Matthew 26 , verse 41 , Jesus says Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation . The spirit is willing , but the flesh is weak .

In this verse , Jesus is reminding us of the internal conflict that we often face when we're dealing with adversity . We desire to overcome the challenges . But the response of our human instinct and our human frailty is often that we want to take the path of the least resistance . So the question is how can we shift our mindset

from running away to facing our storms ? One approach is what some people call the growth mindset . It's the perspective that sees the challenge as an opportunity for learning and growth and , instead of fearing failure , we can see it as a stepping stone towards what we want to be and what we want to become .

God has told us many times we will face trials and tribulations , we will have problems . We're not going to have a stress and trouble-free life .

But we also know that God uses those problems , those stresses , those challenges that we have to shape us , to mold us , to prove who he is to us again and again and again as he guides and helps us for those difficult and trying times .

And one more quick lesson from the buffalo that we should hang on to when they face the storms , they always face them as the herd . They were always together . Here's a little reminder for us there that when we go through our challenges and our struggles in life , we need our own herd .

We need our friends and family and our church support around us to help us . Don't try facing those problems alone . Make sure that you have the support around you to get you through , to give you courage and strength when you're not feeling courage and strength to give you wisdom when you are considering doing foolish things .

We need our herd around us to help us and if we do , we can and will get through the storms of life that we face . I hope that for each of us , as we face our challenges , the things that come against us to distract us and seemingly sometimes wanting to destroy us , that we will not do it alone .

We'll face it with our faith in God and with our friends and family helping us and surrounding us as we move through it , and we will face it head on . We will not try to run away and hide , because I can pretty well guarantee that you will never be able to truly hide from all of the challenges that you will come against .

Be strong , my friends , Be wise , and let God's strength give you the victory as you face the challenges of this life . Have a great day , my friends . We will talk again tomorrow . Thank you for joining us today and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday , right here at Starting Right with Danny Mac .