Lesson from Sterling

Lesson from Sterling       

           Yesterday morning I had my weekly riding lesson, and for the first time in over a year, I rode a horse named Sterling.  Sterling had been away from the farm and had just returned a few days ago.  As you can imagine, he was nervous about being in an unfamiliar place.  Maybe it was because I am a better rider now, maybe it was because I was intentionally trying to “feel him,” maybe it was the adorable way that he closed his eyes when I would scratch under his chin, or perhaps it was because I sympathized with his fears; whatever the reason, I found this time that I bonded better with Sterling than I ever had before. With an attempt to put his bridle on, however, I soon learned that Sterling is ear-shy.  Actually, most horses are fearful of having their ears touched until they grow accustomed to having their ears handled.

            As I reflecting upon my ride yesterday afternoon, I realized a parallel between myself and Sterling.  Sterling is such a compliant horse, and he responds so readily to my cues and my lead; he allows me control of every part of his body and his movements- except his ears.  How often I wonder do we give God control of the reins of our life but don’t allow Him to truly reign in every part of our life.  We may be willing to respond to His leading and guidance, be sensitive to His movement and presence and prompt to follow His commands, we may even compliantly allow Him to interrupt our schedule to use our time for His work, but are there areas of our lives that we’re fearful of releasing to His control?  Are there portions of our lives that we aren’t willing to surrender fully to Him?

            Sterling’s ears are one of the gateways to his five senses.  Likewise, probably the areas of our lives that we are most protective of are the gateways to our senses as well: our ear-gate, our eye-gate, our touch, our taste, and our nose.  All are different senses, but what passes through the gates of each influences our mind and our thought-processes and, in turn, our actions. 

            With his fear of having his ears touched, it was difficult for Sterling to focus on my cues even despite his willingness to comply with my commands.  No matter how willing we may be walk in the Lord’s will for our lives, good intentions are never enough, and unless we surrender completely to Him every portion of our lives, our focus can never fully align with His purpose and calling for our time here on this earth.  In time, Sterling will learn to trust me enough to let me handle his ears; how much more should we trust our Leader to handle every part of our lives, every gateway to our minds, and surrender complete control to Him?  He desires not only the reins of our lives, but to reign in every aspect of our day.

   “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5&6

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3