How to work with them in order to receive inner peace?
I believe that when we stop resisting our buffaloes, when we stop seeing every burden as an enemy, we begin to understand something deeper about God’s love and His work in us.
“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
— Romans 5:3–4, RSV-CE
This is what God is doing through the buffaloes:
- building endurance
- shaping character
- planting hope
Not because He delights in our struggles,
but because He delights in our healing.
🌿 What Buffaloes Are You Facing?
A “water buffalo” can be almost anything:
- a memory that won’t settle
- a fear that keeps resurfacing
- a responsibility you never asked for
- a wound that still aches
- a season of waiting
- a painful relationship
- an unexpected change
- a hardship you didn’t choose
Your buffalo might be muddy and inconvenient, but that doesn’t make it your enemy.
“After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace… will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.”
— 1 Peter 5:10, RSV-CE
Some burdens are tools of grace.
Some obstacles hold hidden blessings.
Some struggles prepare us for futures we cannot yet see.
🌿 A Closing Thought
As you face your own “water buffaloes,” don’t rush them. Don’t plow through them. Don’t assume they’re only there to wear you down.
Sometimes they are the very things that till the soil of your heart so God can plant something new.
Sometimes they lead you toward inner peace, not away from it.
And sometimes the mud
is the beginning of cleansing.
Some buffaloes are not barriers but plow animals, sent to break the hard places, stir the deep soil, and prepare your heart for a harvest you cannot yet see.
Walk with God.
Pray through it.
Let the buffalo guide, shape, and strengthen you.
And when you emerge washed and renewed,
you will see the beauty in what God has brought you through.
*********
Note: This reflection was sparked by something I saw on the local news. A woman in my area had brought water buffaloes to live on her land – an unusual sight here for South Louisiana as this animal is typical to Asia. As she spoke about them, she said something that caught my attention: “I don’t understand why more people don’t use them. You just have to learn how to work with them, instead of plowing through or fighting them.”
That phrase stayed with me.
It wasn’t just about animals—it felt like a metaphor. A quiet invitation to consider the burdens we carry, the things we resist, and how God might be using them not to weigh us down, but to shape us, guide us, and lead us toward something deeper.
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