One Saturday in March, my mom and I went to a horse training demonstration. A young colt was learning to lunge (this is when a horse goes around the trainer on a long rope obeying commands). The colt was doing well and going along nicely until the trainer asked him to change directions. All of the sudden the colt began to buck and snort! He got very angry. The trainer would not let him stop though. He kept the colt going until he settled down. But the trainer kept tugging on the rope to keep the colt’s head to the center of the circle so he would not hurt himself or the trainer. After the colt relaxed and went willingly, the trainer stopped and let him go back the other way. The trainer then explained what had just happened. Horses, it seems, are right and left handed like people. They prefer one direction over the other and resist going the opposite way. To be useful to their riders though, a horse has to go willingly in both directions.
This incident make me think of being led by God. Sometimes He asks us to go in an uncomfortable direction. Like calling a neighbor to invite them to church (I do not like to talk on the telephone!). If we learn to go willingly, without complaining, we will be rewarded. We will also become more useful to God. He can ask us to do uncomfortable things and we won’t buck and snort! And if we keep our heads turned to Him, we won’t get hurt!
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. Do everything without complaining and arguing.” Phil. 2:13-14 (New Living Translation)
