There is Freedom in the Light!

Tonight while studying about living free I was intrigued by the way we live in freedom through Christ and the way a horse lives in peace in relationship to a good trainer. I was watching one of my favorite horse trainers over the weekend and noting the look of the horse he was working with over the course of the lessons.

One of the things that I have always found interesting to watch is how a horse begins to relax as it grows in its submission to the trainer. The horse is an animal that seeks leadership. However, when you first begin working with them you would believe otherwise. They tend to pull away, run away, or push on you in order to not be led. We are a lot like that. We seek our own way and think we have a better way of doing things in yet we are rarely right in our assumption of what is best for us. So it is with a horse.

When you first begin training them their head is up they are stiff and unresponsive. They fight the halter, the lead rope, the bit, your leg and any other training tool you might have. But, as time goes on if you are a patient, black and white no shades of grey leader the opposite begins to happen. The horse begins to find themselves drawn to you for leadership, safety and rest.

You will see this in a horse’s body language as time progresses. Instead of their head being up in the air, their body language being fidgety, and their tail twitching you will see their head drop low and a calm relaxed look and feel come over them. They will stand quietly and close to their leader. There are few things more rewarding than having a horse trust your leadership and desire to be with you. As their head comes down below yours and they stand close and quiet you are able to come in gentle contact with your horse.

We are much the same as we grow up in our walk with God. As we begin to submit to His leadership in our lives we begin to feel the release of fear, anxiety, depression that comes from the uncertainty of controlling our own lives. As we understand more fully His gentle but clear leadership in our lives we are able to face greater and greater challenges with ever rising levels of confidence knowing that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Learning daily to die to self and lay down our lives for our friends requires a relationship of trust in the Spirit of God who is training us.

I encourage you. Take up the challenge of learning what it looks like to submit to God and understand His strong yet gentle leadership in your life and know the peace that passes all understanding that will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.