The Power of a Hot Shot…

A Hot Shot is a long pole with a battery pack on one end and two electric prongs on the other end.  As long as I can remember, we’ve used Hot Shots to get stubborn cattle to move where we want them to go.  The idea is simple: put the electric prongs on the cow, press the button, give her a charge, and she now has a new motivation.  Think of it as a taser for cows, although we were using Hot Shots long before tasers were used on humans. 

Some cattlemen refuse to use Hot Shots.  They say it makes cattle jumpy (it does) and resistant to going in the pens.  That might be so.  When I work cows, I try to use the Hot Shot sparingly.  The truth is, most cows don’t need it.  They have been through the pens enough, they know the drill.  Move down the alley, go into the chute, get the shot, get the ear tag, get out.   

However, there are cows, bulls, and calves without any sense at all.  They resist going where they need to go and need a little extra push.  Some are downright ornery.  They will turn on you, charge, and you'd better move fast for the nearest fence.  Hot Shots are of no use in this situation.   

Cows will sometimes lie down in the alley or the chute.  This is their way of being passive-aggressive.  You can’t work anymore cows until that cow moves.  A little electricity is often a good motivator.  But you also have to know when it’s not working.  We had a cow get down in the alley one time and stubbornly refuse to get up.  One of the fellows poked her with the Hot Shot, and she bellowed but did not move.  He hit her a few more times with no effect.  Greg, the man who runs our cow crew, told him to back off.  That wasn’t going to work.  We got a rope around her horns, and the horse began to pull her.  She got up pretty as you please and trotted off into the right pen.  The Hot Shot is not the solution for every situation. 

If you work around cows, it is inevitable that you will get shocked by a Hot Shot.  I was six when I got my first charge.  My brother Steve claimed it was an accident, but he was laughing pretty hard when he said it.  At age six, I leapt into the air, yelling and squalling.  I demanded retribution, but I was told there would be no more foolishness.  Come to think of it, the last time I was hit by the electrical charge of a Hot Shot, Steve was right behind me. 

Would God ever employ a Hot Shot on us?  Read the Bible.  The book of Judges recounts the times when God’s people turned away from him and worshipped other gods.  He would send oppressors to conquer his people until they cried out for God to have mercy.   

Read Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.  Read Hosea, Amos, and Micah.  God was not happy with his people. They trusted in political power and military might.  They worshipped sex gods and gods of war.  So, God sends Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian King, to carry his people into exile.  Sounds like a Hot Shot to me. 

In the book of Proverbs and the book of Hebrews, we are told: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”  When God loves you, he will discipline you, and he will punish the people in his family.  He does not do this capriciously.  He disciplines us when we are stubborn, when we insist on going our own way, when we reject his path for us.  Like any discipline, it is not enjoyable.  But God punishes us to get us back on track and to remember that he is God and we are not.   

I don’t think this is God’s preferred way of reaching us or teaching us.  He prefers that we respond to his love.  He wants us to have deep gratitude for all he has done for us.  But like a stubborn cow, if we lie down and refuse to move, God will use things in our lives to get us up and moving in his direction. 

I can’t say with authority what is and isn’t God’s punishment.  I do believe often God simply lets us have what we think we want.  When we experience the consequences, we understand his way is better.  But I believe sometimes God directly intervenes and we directly experience his displeasure. 

Most of us don’t want to admit we can be that hard-headed or resistant to God.  But we can.  The best way to avoid God’s punishment is simply to be humble and walk with Jesus.  It means saying, “Not my will, but yours be done.”  It is a much simpler way to live. 

A Hot Shot has the power to make a cow (or a man) move.  God’s power is greater.  Doesn’t it make sense to willingly move with him?