Last time, in “The Desire to Run”, you were introduced to Diego, an unusual horse who loves to work, loves to go, and especially loves to go … fast! He is all in or nothing, and if he has his choice, he’s all in! We can learn from Diego how to be all-in for Christ!

The problem is, Diego is hard-mouthed, meaning he doesn’t respond well to his rider pulling on the bit in his mouth. This makes it incredibly tiring to try to slow him down, and nearly impossible to keep him slow. When he runs too fast, he misses his corners, he has a hard time with his circles and jumps, and he often stumbles. Besides all of that, you can’t let a horse run all the time. He needs to learn to respond to his rider.

I have been working with Diego on what the equestrian world calls “half-halts” — meaning, I pull back on the reins until he has slowed his pace to an acceptable speed, and then I release the pressure on the reins so that I am not always pulling on his mouth, and releasing the reins acts as a reward for him, helping him to understand that there is something positive attached to listening to his rider.

This is taking a fair amount of training. Initially as soon as the pressure was off the reins Diego would return to his former … fast … pace. I had to bring him all the way back to a complete stop to teach him that pressure on the bit meant business. Slowly but surely, he is learning to slow his pace when pressure is applied to the bit, and to maintain it once that pressure is released.

Although, as I stated in the first part of this series, I pray daily to be a bit more like Diego, to be more passionate about my work for the Lord, to have more of a desire to “go”, I realize that I am too much like Diego when it comes to responding to guidance. I’m “hard-mouthed”, so to speak. Once I get an idea in my head, I tend to run with it, rarely waiting for God to give me adequate direction. Meanwhile, perhaps I’m not doing things exactly how God would have me do them. I stumble. I overlook things that need to be paid attention to, I don’t do well in any aspect of the job.

I need to let God be the one who dictates my direction and my pace. I need to rely on Him and not on my own desire to push ahead! The prophet Jeremiah puts it this way: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water That extends its roots by a stream, And does not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought, Nor cease to yield fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7 NASB). In other words, it is only by relying on God and Him alone, and not on my own strength or understanding, that I can accomplish what He has purposed me to do!

I don’t think the “half-halt” lessons are a lot of fun for Diego, and I know that my own “half-halt” lessons aren’t much fun either. God uses our circumstances to help mold and make us, shaping us to be more like Him, to be the tools in His hands that He can actually use. God is currently doing “half-halt” training with me through my husband’s cognitive decline. It isn’t fun. None of these training sessions are. But as I begin to see the fruit that it bears, I am beginning to thank Him for teaching me to wait upon the Lord instead of always running ahead of Him! Is it for nothing that the world’s wisest man tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB)?

The prophet Ezekiel had a phenomenal vision. An entire devotional series could be written about his vision, as recorded in Ezekiel 10:9-20, but the part that always shouts volumes to me is verse 17: “When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, because the spirit of the living beings was in them.” (NASB). We are like those wheels! We are God’s hands and feet on Earth! And as such, we must not move unless God moves us! We need to learn to be completely and totally submitted to His will!

Father, help me … help us all! … to learn to lean on You and not on our own strength. Help us to let You be in control … of everything! May we rely on You for where to go, when to go, if to go, and how fast to go. May we not take even a single step without full submission to Your guiding hand!

There is one more lesson that my “go-ey” horse, Diego has to teach us. Join us on Wednesday for “Lessons From a “Go-ey” Horse, Part 3!

In His love,
Lyn


Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries.