As far as horsemen go, some great ones are out there. They can speak to a horse just by thinking. That thinking goes down to their legs and their hands, ever so subtly, and causes that horse to think the same way. I would love to consider myself that kind of a horseman, but in reality, I’m the kind who’s just glad he hasn’t fallen off. I’m nothing fancy, and if I can get from point A to point B without getting in a fight with my pony, I’m thankful. I was talking to a guy, the other day, however, who made me feel pretty good about my horsemanship. He couldn’t even tell me what lead his horse was in. I’ve got that down, at least. And to me, there’s not a whole lot worse than a horse who is loping in the wrong lead. What I mean is that they might be loping in a circle to the left, but they’re leading with their right shoulder. It just feels backwards and uncomfortable, as far as I’m concerned, and I’m sure a lot of horsemen will agree. I was talking to another gal one time, and she was telling me she had just learned to do a flying lead change. That’s when you can get a horse to change leads without changing his gait. A good example can be seen in a good pole bending run. Those horses are changing leads with every pole, and it’s pretty effortless. I never knew it was that big of a deal to accomplish it, but I’ve seen a lot of folks and horses who can’t communicate well enough with each other to get it done. Chasing calves out through the sagebrush will make it second nature to you and your horse. It’s just one of those things that require subtle communication, I guess. But back to riding a horse in the wrong lead. I just hate it. It makes me feel like I’m sitting backwards in my saddle, and it just aggravates me. It’s not a big humongous deal, like a horse bogging his head and bucking, but it’s just a little aggravating. It makes me feel like something’s wrong. Can I still get where I’m going? Oh, yeah. Does it feel like something is amiss? Yep. And it kind of ruins the ride for me. Conviction is like that. I’m not talking condemnation; I’m talking conviction. When we accept Jesus as Lord of our life, we receive the Holy Spirit, and after that, if something is amiss in our life, he lets us know. It’s usually pretty subtle. Kind of like that feeling that you’re in the wrong spot. Kind of like that feeling of incompleteness, hollowness, or that something is just plain and simply wrong. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and he’s not going to smack us around on a daily basis, but he will convict us if there is sin in our lives. The only problem is that if we keep running in the incorrect lead, we could end up in a wreck. Same thing with ignoring conviction. If we keep running in that incorrect lead, even when we know we’re in the wrong lead, God will allow us to experience a wreck sometimes. That wreck may get our attention a little more readily, but it usually hurts worse, and sometimes it can injure or kill us. Sometimes, we’ve just got to slow down to a trot, switch leads and go on toward Jesus. As we grow, however, we can switch leads on the fly. Jesus builds that into us, and it comes through daily interaction with God. We need to pray, to read his word, to listen. When we do that, we know if we’re in the wrong lead, and we just communicate through a leg and a rein to make the switch. “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:7-11
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 07:55:42 +0000
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