We have had a fun few weekends driving to cattle sales the last few weeks! It has been fun to get away together and see friends and visit and talk cattle. We have carried this semen tank from Mississippi, to Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma and all parts in between! Riding down the road the other day, listening to the rattle from the tank, God caught my attention and got me to thinking. We are carrying around a tank of dreams!
Inside that tank, deep inside the liquid nitrogen, are tiny straws of bull semen and even some cattle embryos. I know I just lost some of you, but stay with me! LOL! That tank, at it’s extremely low temperature, holds access to lots of different animals that we don’t have to feed or own. We can have calves out of animals from literally all over the world and even calves from bulls and cows that have been dead for many years, as long as we have their straw, their seed, stored in our tank.
Cattle breeders of every breed, use semen tanks in order to grow their herd and develop their cattle program faster and broader than they ever could with just a bull walking the pasture. Embryos are an even greater asset as long as a breeder has the recipient cattle to carry the embryo. Many herds have been built foundationally off of embryos of cattle that never even walked pastures in this century or even in this country. It is amazing what can come from one of these tanks!
As we drove down the highway, I thought a lot about that tank of dreams! We spend hours thinking and planning on what straw of semen to use on what cow to give the best result. We spend lots of time thinking about the number of recipient cattle we have and how to get more, so that the valuable embryos can be made and implanted and have the highest success rate. All of that, so we can grow our herd and produce top quality cattle that someone might want to buy one day.
Lots of dreams are in that tank and many more that we would like to purchase to add to the tank! We watched straws sell for $800 per straw this past weekend and I am sure that there have been some sell for higher. Those are some big dreams!
You and I are just like those semen storage tanks. We are a tank of dreams! We are walking around carrying the seeds of promise and growth in us! We have seeds in us, some have been in cold storage for a long time. Some of those seeds have just been waiting for the right time to be pulled out and the process set in motion. Some of those have also been forgotten about and maybe are even in need of being thrown out.
I think about a few straws in our tank that are super old. They aren’t even for our particular breed of cattle. Husband is holding onto them, but I am not so sure that I wouldn’t have thrown them out a long time ago. Maybe you have something inside your tank that needs to be thrown out. You’ve been holding onto that seed of bitterness waiting on the right (wrong) time to use it….maybe you should go ahead and throw it out.
I think about our list of what is in the tank and how it gets reflected on quite often and I am certain that we all have that same list somewhere. Maybe it’s written in the cover of your Bible, or maybe it is just a memory. But we need to pull that list out. Take a look at the list of the promises God has made to you and given you. Possibly it is a scripture reference that stirred your spirit or a Word that a man or woman of God spoke over you or your family. Reflect on that list. How many of His promises and dreams are still waiting to be fulfilled? Habakkuk 2:2-3 says “Wait for it;…it will surely come.”
Are you still waiting on God’s timing or has He said act and you didn’t?
Last year husband bred a cow to a bull that I wouldn’t have chosen. I’m a little partial to this particular cow, but she has yet to produce the “winner” that I think she can. Yesterday he said something about her breeding and he hoped it wasn’t a mistake. I’m hopeful that the seed that was planted produces great growth and an awesome calf. But I am also impatiently waiting to have her bred this December to a different bull. Sometimes it is all in the timing and this time, I hope we have a knock-out!
So maybe you are just like this scenario, you acted but it didn’t achieve the results you were after….be patient. God isn’t finished with you yet. You are a tank of dreams.
You and I are walking around carrying promises and dreams, seeds of growth and fulfillment. Don’t be discouraged. Just because you haven’t seen the promise fulfilled yet, doesn’t mean He didn’t promise it. It just means it is still in the tank. Get ready! I believe your tank of dreams is about to become reality!
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares The LORD!”
We declare it today, Lord! May every promise spoken, may every dream You have given us become reality. May we wait on You and in Your time, may we receive every thing that You have promised. Lord, may we see the growth You desire in us and may we produce everything that You want from us. All of this in Your name we pray.
