One of the many things I love about horses is how similar they are to humans in behaviors, trust, and yes, attitude.
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with my daughter’s horse, Vinnie. He is the result of a sweet deal I made with my teenage girl about a year ago. “No boyfriends. If you agree, you can have this horse.”
She took one look at Vinnie, a beautiful Buckskin gelding, and agreed. It was important to get better at my natural horsemanship skills and well, Vinnie needs a bit of work. So we have ventured into the unknown and, sometimes frustrating, world of horse training.
Now Vinnie is an amazing trail horse. You get on him and he never looks back. But he has one flaw. He doesn’t do stupid. Or at least what he determines is stupid. This was very evident a couple of days ago when I decided he needed some exercise and trail riding was out.
Like any good rider, I voted for a nice exercise routine in the arena. All went well–until I got on his back. He looked longingly at his pasture buddies who were standing at the round bale as we passed the gate. Reluctantly, he kept walking.
I warmed him up and then asked him for a trot. He went around once (well, almost once) and then it happened. He pinned his ears and soon began a battle of the wills. As we passed the gate, he put on the brakes. It was his way of telling me he was done. I turned him around and we spent the next 20-30 minutes negotiating, crow-hopping, battling our way around the arena. Each time I asked for the trot he would throw his body into a ball, pin his ears and give me ugly looks. Clearly, he thought this was stupid. Going somewhere makes a difference and we weren’t going anywhere important.
Sometimes in life, you may find yourself in a place you never expected to be. You might even find yourself putting on the brakes, giving God the ugly look and saying: “I don’t do stupid!”
Often I struggle to understand, why in the world, God isn’t coming through on His promises. “Didn’t He say…” is frequently heard coming out of my mouth. It’s hard to make sense in the difficult times but it is especially hard when doing something that feels pointless. Our ugliness can reach new levels! I experience this frequently as a mom. I teach, I work, I pray, I pour my life into my kids and nothing seems to change.
I wonder if God has any self-connections with me at that particular moment?
When we find ourselves resenting the Lord for “asking for the trot again“, I think it’s important to go back to our real purpose for being here.
The true meaning of any masterpiece can only be bestowed by the Creator.
It is not for the masterpiece to decide what was in the mind of the Artist during the creation process. We were created by God to glorify Him with our lives and enjoy Him forever. Sometimes I get that mixed up.
Oswald Chambers says: “Sin has diverted the human race on to another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree.” Sometimes the Artist has an idea on how to make His masterpiece more beautiful, more fruitful, or more often, more reflective of Himself. Our own ideas or intentions can get in the way of this process. It makes His work more difficult and leaves the masterpiece unfinished.
Vinnie doesn’t understand I am trying to make him a better horse. Sometimes we don’t understand that God is trying to make us better–more like Him. Refusing to give the trot is really refusing to grow into the man or woman that God desires us to become to be most effective in His kingdom.
His kingdom…not our kingdom.
So maybe it’s time to lose the attitude, put the head down, collect ourselves, and start moving forward again and see that maybe, just maybe, there is a good point to stupid.
Kimberly Waldie