Hope For Those Who Ride Unicorns

One beautiful day years ago, when Kendall was in elementary school, her teacher decided to take the class on the scenic route from the classroom to the lunchroom, which meant that they got to walk outside. So they set out in their traditional single-file line, and all was well. That is, until my whimsical daughter had what seemed like a good idea at the time.

“Abbey!” she called to her friend, who was behind her in line. “Let’s pretend we’re riding unicorns!” And she proceeded to demonstrate what riding a unicorn would look like to the average person. Sweet Abbey declined the invitation, as tempting as it may have been, so Kendall proceeded to ride her own unicorn, undeterred by the fact that she was the only one doing so.

At first, she felt the exhilaration of doing something really fantastic – the wind in her hair, the sun beaming down on her face, the spark of joy that comes from the imagination one must possess in order to ride a unicorn. But all too soon, what she felt was the ground rushing up to meet her as her knees hit the hard, uneven cement sidewalk. Her pretend ride got really real really fast. 

And soon, she was not riding her unicorn, but walking in tiny, painful steps, one at a time, with her friend Abbey to the nurse’s office. When I picked her up from school that day, the first thing I noticed were the big Band-Aids on one knee. Since my daughter rarely tried anything risky enough to cause her harm, I was surprised to find her hurt. 

However, when she told me the story of how she became injured, I laughed out loud. Riding unicorns? If ever there were anything worthy of earning a scar on her knee, riding a unicorn would be it. And I applauded her for such a noteworthy endeavor, knowing it would make a glorious story for her to share in the future. (She shared it of her own accord the other night at youth group and gave me permission to share it with all of you!)

We may not all have the youth or the innocence or the creativity or the desire to pretend to ride unicorns as we’re walking around town, running errands. But we do have dreams that God has placed in our hearts. And like Kendall, we sometimes take a spill (or two, or three, or four, etc.) along the way as we’re working toward the fulfillment of said dreams. 

Often, we go through seasons in which we do not see much evidence that God is working in our lives. We feel like He’s forgotten us, if we’re brave enough to be honest about it. Where once we felt such certainty of His presence and His purpose for our lives, we go through times where we pray and pray and pray, only we don’t hear Him guiding us. 

We know generally what the Bible says to do, how the Bible tells us to live, but we don’t feel God leading us specifically in regards to the next steps we need to take in our own lives. And we feel lost. Like we’ve missed Him somewhere.

All around us, life goes on for everyone else. We see the perfect children and perfect dinners and perfect vacations and perfect careers and perfect marriages on Facebook and Instagram. We see good things happening to those all around us, but we feel stuck. Will God come through for us? Will He lead us all the way? Or will we be stranded here in the desert forever?

I’m going to take us to an unusual passage of Scripture. It is not the typical Bible verse you would share with someone going through hard times, but because I have a daughter who rides unicorns (or used to), one who went through about two years where she would change every reference I made to hands or feet into hooves (her love for unicorns) and fins (her love for turtles), this phrase leapt out at me.

In Exodus 10, Moses is trying to get Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go to worship God. At this point, they have endured seven of the plagues, but Pharaoh still refuses to let the people go. So God sends a plague of locusts, and then a plague of darkness. And finally, Pharaoh is ready to relent – but only on his own terms. 

You may recall that the request is that Pharaoh let the Hebrews go out into the wilderness (a three-day journey) so that they may sacrifice offerings to God. So as the plagues continue, Pharaoh keeps trying to strike a deal with Moses. He will let the men go, but not the women and children, etc. 

Well, in Exodus 10:24, Pharaoh seeks yet another compromise:  Go, serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.

Moses is not having any of that, and he tells Pharaoh:  You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind (v. 25-26).

So the phrase that stood out to me was:  not a hoof shall be left behind. I took a picture of that verse and texted it to Kendall, and I shared it with both Matt and Kendall at dinner that night. I was so excited! It jumped out at me because it was such a normal thing in our family to have hoof and fin find their way into nearly every conversation, but also because of what this phrase meant to me personally.

Not a hoof shall be left behind. What Moses is saying to Pharaoh is that he will not compromise. He is not willing to take whatever permission Pharaoh will grant him and go with that. No, Moses serves a God who knows what He has purposed for His people (and for His own glory), and He is not willing to take any less. 

Not a hoof shall be left behind. So what this phrase means to me today is that God will accomplish the purposes He has for us. Not one portion, not one part, not one tiny little minuscule detail will escape His notice. Not a hoof shall be left behind. God wanted His people to come and sacrifice to Him in the desert, and because this is what He divinely purposed, this is what He would see to completion.

We know that, in fact, not a hoof was left behind as the Hebrews made their exodus from Egypt, and we also know that God continued to be with them along their journey to take possession of the land He promised to them. I just love Joshua 21:45 – Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

God wasn’t asleep on the job back when Moses was arguing with Pharaoh. God hadn’t forgotten His people. Remember how He kept telling Moses to remind His people that He had heard their cries? Just as God heard their groans, so He hears ours. Just as God had a timeline in place to accomplish His plans to free His people, so He has a timeline in place to accomplish His will in our lives.

Remember how Paul encouraged the believers in Philippi:  Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Or we can take courage from James:  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you (1:1-5).