December 14: Herding Cats Day

 

December 15:  Herding Cats Day

We have all been there.  As we stare an impossible task square in the face, we find ourselves feeling like we are trying to herd cats!  While the idiom that something impossible is “like herding cats” is a popular saying now, the phrase has relatively recent origins – one story has it that IT expert Dave Platt popularized the phrase when he said that “managing senior programmers is like herding cats”. 

Another possibility is that the popularity of the phrase gained traction during the 2000 Super Bowl. Hewlett-Packard released an ad on that occasion boasting of their ability to serve customers, as easily as cowboys herding cats. Since then the phrase has taken on a life of its own.

Regardless of the etymology of the phrase, it’s a common experience.  It may be work related, a family issue, a financial problem, or just the day-to-day frustrations we encounter.  Is there any remedy? 

At the risk of sounding trite, there is.  The Apostle Paul faced just such a dilemma as he pondered his life.  He was facing a financial crisis.  The future looked bleak, and he found himself with more month at the end of the money.  Should he stress?  Make an appeal for help?  Throw in the towel completely?  No.  He had discovered the “secret” to living with contentment.

“I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me.”  (Philippians 4:13).  Are you trying to herd cats right now?  There is a resource that only a few can claim.  Are your circumstances daunting?  There is an Ally that will shoulder up to you and give you strength.  Do you find yourself defeated again and again by the same enemy?  There is a Warrior who will come to you with the very power that called all creation into being.

Wherever you are today, find hope in this “secret.”  Whatever you are facing turn to the One who holds eternity in His hands.  Call out.  Pray the simplest of prayers:  “Help.”  Live with the confidence that no herd of cats can defeat you.  You can do all things, in the strength of Christ.  Believe it.  Pray it.  Live it.  And put the cats in the pen.