Oct 10th 2007 life’s pen
When I work a horse in the round pen I don’t keep any ropes or restraints on it. I don’t make it do anything. The horse has to decide on his own what to do to have peace in his life.
I stand in the middle of the ring. This symbolizes where God should be in our lives—in the center. Everything we do should revolve around God. But a lot like people do, the horse will stay out next to the rail.
As I look the horse in the eye and raise my hand up, the horse will naturally flee from me. I call this ‘putting pressure on him’; and as he moves around the pen I can speed him up or slow him down just by my gestures. I watch his gestures to see where he is at in our relationship.
Listening
First I look for the horse to turn an ear toward me—the first gesture of a growing relationship. When he does, I know he’s tuned in and listening to me. Just like for us people—if we want to learn more about God we have to learn listen to Him. The best way to recognize his voice is to stay on the line with Him more. When someone calls us on the phone for the first time, chances are that we won’t recognize their voice. But through the repetition of talking to them daily we come to recognize their voice. In just the same way, we need to communicate with God on a daily basis.
Humbling Yourself
Next I want to see the horse lower his head this is the gesture of humbling himself. Humility is something that God requires of us, too. As Paul wrote: ‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land’ (2 Chronicles7:14). That is exactly where I had big-time problems in my life. Pride was tearing me down. When I got so tired of trying to handle everything on my own, I just realized I couldn’t.
Around that time, I was working a horse in my backyard using a Dually halter (developed by Monty Roberts). When I pull back on the halter, it causes pressure on the horse’s nose. Any horse’s immediate response is to pull back. As the horse pulls back I allow the rope to slide through my hands like the drag on a fishing reel. The whole time he’s fleeing from the master he’ll have pressure. Even when he stops he has still has pressure; but once he steps toward the master that pressure releases.
On this one occasion, when I saw this I knew that I had to give all my problems to God and allow him to handle it for me. Once I did this, not just saying it, but truly allowing God to take care of me—then I started having peace in my life. I took my step towards the Master, and the pressure released.
Hunger
The last gesture is for the horse to lick, chew, and smack its lips. Once he does this I will lower my hand, turn away from the horse, and allow him to come to the center of the ring where I am. To me, this gesture shows that we should be hungry for the Word.
With time and experience the horse will soon learn when he’s obedient he’ll be close to the master and have peace. Please pray with me that all of us learn that obedience to our Master will bring us closeness to Him—and with that closeness, peace.
Created by admin