where waves grow sweet

My stepdaughter, Madison, has always been one of those people who love horses. Her mom is too, so her mom and stepdad bought a property with an arena and barn… and a horse named Harry to live there. Much of Madi’s free time in high school was spent taking lessons, competing in horseback riding events and caring for Harry.

I’ve never been a horse person and probably never will be, but I was fascinated by observing that world. Horseback riding, it seems, is incredibly relational. The sweetest bond formed between Harry and Madi. She couldn’t wait to see him and he whinnied with excitement every time she approached. The more time they spent getting to know each other and learning their craft in relation to each other, the more in sync they became; his understanding of her lead requiring a barely perceptible touch on the reigns or just the slightest leaning of her body. The result was an increasingly beautiful, accomplished and effortless performance… and friendship.

I was thinking about this recently, in terms of God’s leading of us… well, me. Having started out as a wild horse that didn’t want to be restricted or tamed in any way, it’s no surprise that I wasn’t interested in having a harness or saddle put on me or being told where to go. In time, I came to realize that existing only for myself and my freedom wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and, frankly, kind of sucked. What followed were a whole lot of years of time spent with God, building relationship as I got to know Him, learned to trust Him and began to follow His lead. It involved a significant amount of bucking and running and not being very cooperative (thank you for your patience with me Lord!), as well as plenty of missteps as I stumblingly developed understanding of what He was asking me to do.

But do you know what I realized? His approach no longer elicits defensiveness or fear. When I see Him coming, I whinny like nobody’s business. And know with delight that I’ve been on His mind too. While I don’t follow His lead perfectly, I’ve noticed that there are times when the slightest tension on the reigns will turn me in the direction He is leading, even if it’s not where I want to go and even when I don’t understand why. It excites me to see how far I have come! The best thing is that I can now be part of something bigger than just myself. Not a competition, but a mission… to be used for my Master’s purposes, demonstrating His ability and displaying His beauty… getting more in sync with each passing year because I am being been trained by the best there is; the One my heart loves.