Round Pen of Life

     The other morning we were blessed at the ranch to have a group of young energetic people come for a week to work. One thing we do the first day with such groups is to have a bible study prepared were we train  a horse while drawing a mental picture of how God "trains" us. This morning is usually my favorite  because of a passion God has given me to use His gift in my life (working with horses) to show His love and wisdom to hurting and confused hearts. Well it just so happens that the gentleman who normally does the devotions that morning was gone and it fell upon me to do them. I was a little nervous because this was my "first rodeo" so to speak, and because naturally I am a one-on-one kinda guy. However in spite of that God used it, and I would like to share what happened.
      When I got in the round pen with Noah ( a four year old gelding) I had planned out what to say to the group.... but stage fright set in the minute that Noah didn't do what I intended, and I forgot what all I was gonna say. In fact I still can't remember what I was going to say! It was then that I left it to God to speak through me, and I began to see some things that I shared with the group.
       I, the master, had taken a horse into a different situation than he wasn't comfortable with. Why? Because I saw something in Noah, he has potential that I love. I wanted to make Noah into a useful horse in the Kingdom  of the ranch. So I pursued a relationship of respect with him. Now he is very good at being a horse, and horses aren't naturally born with a saddle on their back following a man around giving rides. They are a prey animal who either runs or fights what scares them.  So my presence with this horse sent him running around the pen, because he, being a horse, naturally wants freedom. So he ran away from the master and fled to do what he would rather do and be "free". But what is freedom? Is it the capability to do what we want? I believe that Godly freedom is better described as "the power to do what we aught"! So was Noah really free? He was doing what he wanted, but it was hard... it wore him down. I kept asking Noah to rest in me, but he couldn't see the freedom I offered, so he ran. Then I saw a softening in Noah and he dropped his head and came to me, and rested. My heart was glad that Noah had found me, and rested in me, and desired to be with me. It was then that I was able to pet Noah and he could feel my love. My love for him existed while he was running away from me, but since he had distanced himself from me he could not feel my love. Now my love could be expressed into him.
       It went on from their to explaining how I brought Noah through hard things to continue to shape him into a usable horse, but that is the part I wanted to talk about. Were is your heart? Is it resting in the master? Is in fleeing to outsides of the round pen of life seeking it's own will and false freedom? Trust me His love is there, but you need to choose to rest in Him to feel it.