As I tugged on the lead line, I considered how short-sighted horses are. I don't mean visually; horses actually have excellent eyesight and can see almost 360 degrees around their bodies.
No…horses, like small toddlers, cannot see the benefit of certain actions. Such as being asked to leave the small, bare paddock to go to the giant field across the street. The field that has fresh, delicious green grass growing all over it, plenty of space to run, and lots of other horses to interact with.
"Come on, walk!" I said to the horse, tugging on the lead rope. Reluctantly, the horse allowed herself to be dragged away from the old hay on the ground and followed me out of the paddock. She snorted in frustration as I led her down the driveway. "I know, girl. Just keep walking and we'll be there in a few minutes," I sighed as she gave me a resigned look. I'm sure if all horses were like Mister Ed, I'd have heard an earful from her. We crossed the street and walked up to the pasture gate, the horse dragging her hooves the whole way. Every movement spoke of reluctance. It's as if she was saying, "You wanna drag me somewhere? Okay, but you put in the work. I'm not helping any more than I have to. I don't know why I had to leave my cozy paddock anyway."
Then, as soon as we crested a small hill and she beheld the rest of the herd grazing in the lush grass, her head bobbed up. Her ears pricked forward and she let out a whinny. Suddenly she was so eager to move! "Hang on, silly. Let me get this halter off of you," I laughed as she tried to drag me with her to her goal. I managed to stop her, slipped off the halter, and stood back as she trotted over to the rest of the horses. All trace of her frustration, reluctance, and regret was gone, forgotten in the moment of seeing the food, space, and community that she was created for.
Aren't we all like that horse? We are created for greatness. We are created to glorify God! The Creator, Sustainer, and Master of the entire universe! Our Savior and Lord, who came to die for us, so He could have a personal relationship with us! US! The silly, selfish creatures who cling to our old habits, our dirty, bare paddocks with small piles of unfulfilling fodder. We walk around in the muck and mud of these small spaces, seemingly content with "good enough." We're fenced in and bound by strongholds the enemy puts up, never dreaming that there's more to life. And then Jesus comes along, clips a lead line to us, and encourages us to walk with Him. He doesn't force us, but He gently coaxes us to come. To take the first step and come out of the small, limiting spaces we possess. We drag our feet, look longingly back at our old life, desiring just another mouthful of that hay. We sigh in frustration, determined to just sit back and let Jesus do the work. After all, we agreed to leave that paddock, right? So He can do the rest!
Then we see it. That glimpse of greatness. That view of what we were created for. We see the wide open spaces, the freedom that comes with a commitment to Jesus. All of a sudden we realize that when we actually walk with purpose, we get there faster. We see the sweet food He offers, food that will sustain us and give us pleasure as we graze on it throughout the day. We realize that time spent in His Word is never wasted. We see the community of those like us, and we realize that we were created to spend time with them. We were meant to draw together, encourage and support each other, and call out growth in each other. We are meant to run free! We are meant for great things! We are created for greatness.
Glory. Greatness. Freedom. You were created for these. You were created for Jesus! So why are you still in your paddock?
