I have been teaching Amos and Revelations (Revy) to accept the harness attached to them by practice and patience. I have not yet added a cart until... Yesterday!! Yay! My horse riding pal, Claire, came for a visit to ride so since I had the extra help we hooked up Amos to the light 2 horse cart. It took a lot of time to get things adjusted to safely proceed. He did great waiting and wondering what in the world I was going to be doing with him today.
Amos decided the cart was ok behind. After all he has gotten use to me ground driving behind him and all my shenanigans behind him so he was ok with that as I led him. Then I climbed in and Claire led him around with me in the cart. He was uncertain but then adjusted and followed Claire. Then the next step was to have Claire let go and see if he could be brave on his own without someone to cling/look to for security...to trust my voice and my directions for him even with the added pulling weight and the newness of pulling against resistance.... something he has never experienced. Amos had to trust that I would keep him safe through a tough new skill. Amos had a ton of try and he ended up doing fabulous for his first solo drive. You want your horse totally responsive to turning stopping and moving forward otherwise backwards moving in a cart without control can be very hazardous.
I only share this story to point out something God was trying to share with me. I know I'm harnessed by God...I'm His and He is mine but sometimes it can feel like God doesn't know what He's doing in my life...I feel so much resistance I want to freeze up like Amos would try unsure of any movement at all...sometimes I get very unsure if I can trust my God with the reins because I don't understand the process of what He's trying to teach or do with me...in fact it seems much harder to trust when resistance is felt and experienced. Amos had to learn to push through the resistance that once those cart wheels started rolling and he followed the path I wanted of him things got easier. I think that's the lesson God wanted me to remember. God was trying to tell me, Sandy, I've put my harness on you and I need you to keep pulling towards me no matter how great the resistance feels in your life. I know it's hard but keep pulling towards me. It only gets easier when you learn to trust me.
