How God Used a Horse Named Mystic
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalm 32:8, NLT
“Put your left leg in the stirrup, grab a hold of the saddle, and swing your right leg over.” The horse barn worker made it sound so simple to get up on a horse. With the grace of a cowboy--oh wait, I mean a cowgirl!--I made it to the top of the horse.
I may or may not have been a little freaked out. As a kid, I rode on a pony but I had never ridden a horse. Jonathan and I decided to be adventuresome and ride horses. Even though I was high off the ground and at the mercy of a horse, I felt excited and even peaceful.
Guided Horseback Trail Ride
The reason I felt peace, besides giving my fears to Jesus, was that it was a Guided Horseback Trail Ride. These horses were trained to follow the lead horse. When she stopped, my horse stopped. When the lead horse started down the path again, my horse followed her.
The leader of our guided horseback trail ride was someone I wanted to follow. Why? Because she knew where to take us. The path was familiar to her. She knew where to turn and when to stop. The guide also knew when we needed to cross a road. So, she would stop and listen for traffic to keep us and the horses safe.
The Best Pathway
In our verse for today, God promises that He will guide us along the best pathway for our life. What a promise! God knows the path of our life and every turn on it. We can trust Him to stop at the road because of ‘traffic.’ Because God knows the best path for our life, we can relax in the ‘saddle’ and follow Him.
At the beginning of our ride, the horse barn workers gave directions on how to use the reigns. They encouraged us to hold tightly but not too tightly. If the horse needed to go one direction, the workers directed us to pull the reign towards that direction. I am not going to lie. I felt nervous about directing a big animal but I tried to relax and just go with it.
A Horse Named Mystic
My horse was named Mystic. She was quite the snacker. Anytime she would reach down to get a snack, I had to pull her back with the reigns. When she got too close to a tree, I would pull her towards the path so I wouldn’t knock into the tree.
As I guided Mystic with the reigns, I couldn’t help but think of the Holy Spirit. When He sees us getting off the path God has for us, He gives us a little tug of conviction to guide us back. When the Holy Spirit sees us getting ahead of God, He uses the reigns to slow us down and remind us to follow God instead of trying to lead.
I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit guides in this way. God has the best path for my life. Remember our verse for today from Psalm 32:8?
“The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”
I am blown away by the fact that the Creator of the Universe is so personally involved in my life. God desires to guide me along the best pathway for my life. Not just any pathway, but the best pathway. How can I not trust Him?
Friend, how about you? What will you do differently this week to trust God has the best path for your life? Will you let the Holy Spirit guide you?
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