Rebellious Horses

Between our son’s junior and senior year at Union University, Drew spent the summer at Lake Forest Christian Camp having fun with campers and making a little money, very little money.  It was his second season at the camp.  This year was special because he received a promotion to “Camp Wrangler.”  His newly attained position meant that he took care of the camp horses, and took the campers on trail-rides.  The horses had to develop a temperament which could remain calm and collected around children who could not yet learn to remain calm and collected around horses.

Most everyone loves the beauty of a horse from a distance.  But for children the adventurous dream of riding a horse is challenged precipitously the closer their small frames get to the horse’s massive frame.  It seems people are slower to read people than horses are at reading humans.  Horses instinctively know and react to the calm or fear of people.   The kids are slower learners than horses; a horse becomes a mature horse before a human becomes a mature human.  This is probably why humans live longer than horses; humans need more time to become domesticated.

Some horses, by nature, are easy-going and comfortable in adjusting to the presence of children or anything that threatens their control over their environment.  However, there are horses that need help in becoming comfortable if they are not in control. There are horses that are rebellious by nature.  This rebellion must be shaped without losing the spirit of the horse.

I have seen enough western movies to know there are several ways to tame or break the wildness in a horse.  The methods fall between two extremes; the bronco or the whisperer.  Drew, the whisperer, used this method primarily to change horses. God, the whisperer, used the same method to change Drew.

The rebellious horse is led to a post where it is muzzled and is secured close to the post; it has no freedom to move at will.  Slowly the horse is loosened from the post inch by inch as it learns the trainer is in charge, and not the horse.  When a trusting relationship is reached between the horse and trainer, the rebellion dissipates and the horse is released.  The training is not over. It has just begun.  The trainer must be consistent in caring for the horse while constantly building trust.  The horse must continually allow someone other than himself to make decisions.

Submission and trust are hard to learn.  Horses are not the only part of creation which has trust and obedience issues.  I do too.  Sometimes it seems that God has so limited my life that I cannot move, or make the right decision.  I must learn and relearn that God is not punishing me; He is training me.  The more natural my submission becomes, the more freedom I experience.  The more trust I develop, the more calm life becomes.

I can tell you that I have never gone through a hard time that I did not eventually learn to trust God more.