Whoa, There!

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"Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you."

~Psalm 32:9

Upon first glancing over this, I got a bit miffed. Horses aren't dumb, and from my perspective, they've got plenty of understanding. And they don't necessarily need a bit to be ridden, much less come to me. So maybe their teeth occupy more space in their heads than their brains, but that doesn't mean they're dumb!

Whoa-ho-ho-hold up, there. First off, did I seriously get miffed by the words of God? (And second, never did He call them dumb, so I'm going to forget I even said that.) But anyway, I half-halted and paused to think about what He really meant there.

I remembered that, when I went trail riding for a friend's birthday a couple weeks ago, the particular horse I was on was feeling rather peckish and swung his head to the side every chance he got to snatch at a juicy cluster of grass or leaves. Every time I had to tug back on the reins and say, "Hello. I'm still up here," he'd grudgingly listen and get back to work. But now I'm relating with the horse instead of the rider.

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Often I snatch at the little goodies at the side of the path (computer, books, and other things that vie for my attention) and often I ignore God's tugging at the reins. I get caught up in how good this looks right now and forget that if I'd just focus on the road and get back to the barn, I'd get a nice hosing-down and get put into my cozy stall where dinner waits (not to mention I'd be with all my buddies). It's not hard to remember that I've got a rider Who's directing my steps toward heaven, but it's often difficult to surrender that control over to Him. (And, because I'm hard-headed and obsessed, it's easy to get miffed.)

~Charli Rae |Job 39:19-25|
PS--Ben's birthday was Saturday. He's seventeen now. This time next year we'll be packing him off to go to college. :(