I am surely learning a lot on my horse riding excursions!
I was recently practicing my canter (a
3-beat gait resembling but smoother and slower than the gallop) in a freshly harvested corn field and my instruction from my husband/coach was to practice keeping my spirited five year old mare straight in a long “corn row”. As I took off, the increased speed produced an adrenaline rush within me. As Bart observed and coached me through the process, he hollered, “don’t lean back; sit up straight”. I attempted to straighten my body, aligning my feet, hips and shoulders; However the proper position on the horse felt awkward, while leaning back with a grasp on the saddle horn “felt” more secure.
I finally made it to the end of the row and bumped the reins to stop my horse. The “stop” was a welcomed release of tension. I took a deep breath and relaxed my shoulders.
As soon as I came to a stop, the Holy Spirit spoke to me: “what feels the most comfortable to you is not always the safest position”.
It dawned on me, when I obeyed my husband‘s instructions and tried something unfamiliar, I felt vulnerable. Although I had more control in the proper position, it made me “feel” less secure. My lack of skilled horsemanship and experience had produced a premature judgment in my mind. I had assumed the position that made me feel the “most secure” was my “safest" choice. The truth was my husband (an experienced horseman) knew my safest option and was trying to lead me to a better understanding.
Our ride with the Holy Spirit is very much like that, we hear the instruction of the Lord but riding into the unknown makes us feel vulnerable and unprotected. Yet being in God’s perfect will is the safest place for us to be. We often develop mental patterns to comfort ourselves while missing the fullness of spiritual breakthrough. The Lord has every intention of leading us with His power and authority, but we must follow Him to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom.
“Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple. He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through. He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?” Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En Gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean. “The swamps and marshes won’t become fresh. They’ll stay salty. “But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won’t wither, the fruit won’t fail. Every month they’ll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.””
Ezekiel 47:1-12 MSG
After reading the verses through, I invite you to soak in the song and open your heart to His voice.
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