Each Friday evening, as camp wound down, there was a rodeo for the children (and families members) to watch and enjoy.
One Friday evening, as my husband and I manned our booth, we heard a simultaneous gasp from the crowd, then silence. As we squeezed between the grandstands, to peer into the ring, we saw a horse on the ground.
A bystander ask us if we saw what happened. We had not, so he went on to tell us that the fallen horse was laying on it's rider. The horse was motionless. The crowd was motionless as they sat in silence watching men rush into the ring to see if the man pinned under the weight of the horse was still alive.
Graham, the horses owner, was still alive but badly injured. In the days that followed we learned more about Graham's story.
Graham had trained his horse to lay perfectly still if it ever fell over with him on his back. Graham knew that weight of a horse, as well as it physical strength, could crush a man to death if it tried to jump back to it's feet after falling on it's rider. Graham's training and the horses willingness to listen to his master's instructions, had saved the the life of his rider, although the road that laid before him would be years of recovery.
There is another twist in Graham's story that I want to share. This twist came as his wife shared, in the days that followed her husband's time in the hospital, as she questioned "why?".
A couple of years before the accident, Graham came home and told his wife that he was sure that they were to become missionaries. His wife was against the thought and had persuaded her husband that if they were to be missionaries, that surely it would not be for years, after their two little boys were bigger. Besides, Graham was enjoying the position at the camp, working with the horses. Why would God call them to leave the ministry that they enjoyed so much?
Graham was willing to wait but now his wife, looking back, wondered if it was her delay in obeying God and following her husband, that had caused this tragic event and was now transforming her life and that of her family.
Was it her "fault"? I think the the real question is, "Should she have been willing to surrender to the call God had given to her husband?" Regardless of the answer, should she have said, "I will listen to what God is telling you because I trust Him to care for us."?
Listening. Being willing to obey. It sounds like a strange analogy, but why was it that a horse would listen and learn yet so often, we as humans, don't? Speaking for myself, there are times that I can say that the horse is better at listening than I am.
My husband and I were recently asked how we knew that it was God's will for us to go on the mission field (were we served for five years) as well as coming off the field and into the place were my husband is now serving. A good question. Hard to answer in a few sentences. As I look back all I can say is through experience. By "experience" I mean that we have learned lessons of what it looks like when we are listening to God and when we are not listening to Him.
Granted it is not always obvious to us right away.
Each time God calls, each of us chooses to listen (obey) or to not listen (sin). When God calls us to do something and we listen (obey) we find that he rewards us in amazing ways. Each time we chose not to listen (sin) we find ourselves in "turmoil", which we usually bring on ourselves because we are in disobedience, hanging on to something that we do not want to give up.
I have been in this position time and again, "turmoil" brought on by not wanting to let go of something I see as important, instead of listening to what God is telling me to do. During these times of disobedience I have found myself miserable or in the midst of "everything going wrong".
I find that once I release control and chose to obey, things fall into place, which brings peace as well as other wonderful opportunities, often better than where I was before releasing control. God is so gracious and patient!
Listening and being willing to obey only comes as we submit to God and learn His way, which comes through prayer and His Word.
Proverbs is a good place to learn what happens when we listen and learn and also what happens when we chose not to listen and not to learn.
Here are just a couple of verses to start with...
Psalm 86:11
Proverbs 1:5, 9:9, 10:8, 19:25
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