Natural Instincts

 

Every horse has to lay down the way it wants to do things so it can have a better life.  Horses have natural instincts that must be overridden.  Every single one of them begins their life with innate tendencies—good and bad.  They are herd bound; they always feel safest with the herd.  They have the fight or flight response, so when under pressure they run like crazy or if there is no way out they turn and fight.  Because horses are claustrophobic they feel safest in open space versus confined areas.  Although there are more I could name, my point is that horses were created with natural instincts for survival.

 There have been many times over the last 15 years that I have ended up with an unbroke horse between the ages of three and five. These horses had never received any attention from anyone.  It wasn’t surprising that each one was convinced that my sole purpose in approaching them was eating them for dinner.  They were always real pretty, well-built horses that were going to waste.  These purposeless, stubborn horses would end up at my house and the adventure would begin.  When I would step into the pen the horse’s eyes would warn me that it knew I was not a horse, it wasn’t interested in me and that if I got too close or it felt trapped it was going to spin around, kick me and run.  This is a normal, even natural response.  It is something that cannot be changed unless the horse surrenders.  Some surrender to love, others to intimidation. 

This is not an article on horse training.  However, God has used horse training to teach me about walking with Him and His heart toward me.  Several of the horses I have mentioned were without a doubt headed to the canner pen; three specifically that I am thinking about right now.  They made great roping horses and competed in the arena alongside some of the best horses in the country.  You may have heard me talk about a few of them: Dink, Turbo and several others.  Unfortunately, there were a few that never took a chance and surrendered.  They couldn’t see that I was not going to destroy them but give them a purpose, a job and great importance. 

God used these adventures to teach me about people too.  We have some similarities to horses: we are born selfish and we react when we don’t feel safe.  God is standing right here!  Right beside us!  He wants us to surrender to His will, which is to give us a purpose and point in life that fits us perfectly. There is one catch.  It is His way.  In the same way that horses cannot be used if they don’t surrender to the owner, God cannot use us in the way we were created if we don’t yield to Him.  God wants to walk with you.  We have to face the fear of losing control and allow God to show us life.  When we surrender, we begin to see things His way.

Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV)

Some of those horses that were headed for the canner ended up living a very long, well taken care of life because they surrendered!  How much more will a loving God work with you and in you to show you the way to real life that lasts forever?

Until next month, ride with God,

Travis Klingeman