hold your horses!

I would have been a perfect Alec Ramsey. I always wondered why Walter Farley had not penned me into his epic story The Black Stallion. Perhaps it was because I had not been born yet...
Since I was a little grommit growing up, I loved horses. I loved everything that had to do with horses. I pretty much loved every book, movie, or farm that had to do with horses. I rode horses. I lost riders off of horses. I drew horses. I wrote about horses. I dreamed about horses... you get my point!
There was something majestic and powerful that exuded from their strong frames each time I saw one go full throttle that left me speechless in wonder. Something sweet in the harmony of pounding hoofs drumming along the ground that made my heart race. Something about the strength and power that was reigned into their regal bodies that commanded my respect.
The Black Stallion was one of my favourite classic movies of all time, and one of the most beautiful horses I had laid eyes on as a child... Here was a tale of two polar opposite creatures forging a remarkable friendship: a young scruff of a boy, and a wild, uncontrollable stallion. Stranded on an island, the boy gently befriends the beast and they become inseperable. Though wild and full of energy, the horse slowly submits its will to the child - to the point of allowing the boy to climb upon his back and ride - without saddle, without bit or bridle. I think it is one of my favourite scenes in the movie when Alec and Black take a run down the beach - in tune with nothing else in the world but their new-found friendship.

God reminded me of this story the other nite at Revoltuion. Apparently I don't make a good Alec Ramsey...but a better horse. Like the stallion, I am full of energy and wildness. I was stranded. I was befriended by a humble child - born in a manger. I forged a friendship that changed my life. And I wanted to submit my energy and passion to the still small voice of the One who loves me, and go racing through life at full throttle, in tune to the promises of the One who is riding me...
"I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control..." - Psalm 32:8-9
You see, sometimes I get a little eager...I get a little out-of-hand, and there are times when I have to be controlled and reigned in by the Father. It's not that I don't want to listen, but, when I allow my steps to be persuaded by an unharnessed passion to just live for God, I can miss the instruction of my Master. Eagerness can cost the race when it is not coupled with obedience. An eager horse that is uncontrollable will always lose, but the horse that has submitted it's will, passion, and energy, and has tuned its eagerness to wait on the direction of its rider will be first out of the blocks and finish with excellence.
God doesn't want to go through life bridling His children...He wants to develop relationship and have you so in tune with Him that you can finish with excellence. He wants you to trust Him with your passion and direction so that you will submit them into His hands. He wants you to quiet down so you can hear Him speaking....And some days, His desire will be to take you to the beaches of life to enjoy the freedom of running full throttle, bareback and unbridled, at One with your Creator.