How many of you have ever taken one of the horse drawn carriage tours? This summer I took the three girls I nanny on a Historic Tour of Wilmington. We just went because every time we were downtown, the girls wanted to be near these horses. Just so you know the view from the sidewalk is much nicer than the view you pay for. Basically, we spent the whole time looking at the back of the drivers head and the bag that catches the poop.
What was interesting to me was where the horses came from. Each horse was rescued from the Amish farming communities. The horses they use to farm with have to be matched up very specifically. It is not until the horse is three years old that they know if they will have a suitable partner for plowing. The gate of both horses must match in just the right way. The horses that do not match up are sold to factories to be destroyed. Springdale Farms rescues these horses and uses them for the tourism industry. Pretty cool! Made me feel better about how much we shelled out for this tour.
Sometime later that month, God brought this to my mind in light of Matthew 11: 28-30:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
All of a sudden this verse took on new meaning. We
can literally yoke ourselves to God. I have this image of these horses and being harnessed to God in much the same way.
He knows he is big enough and strong enough to bring us through
anything. We just need to come in our weakness and yoke ourselves to
Him, then we will have all that we need.
For the first time in my life, I experienced this last weekend. My friend was going through some painful circumstances and really opened up to me. Normally, I take all the burden on myself and end up feeling overwhelmed and unsure of how to help. I knew something was different this time. I was empathizing with her sadness and pain but I did not feel overwhelmed. While she shared what was going on in her life, I simply prayed, “Lord, I don’t know what is going on but you do. Please come.” We talked and cried and laughed and grew together that day. My burden was light that day because I cast it upon God. He gave me everything I needed in that moment. God is incredible! I pray that the scriptures would come alive in all our lives!
