THINGS HORSES HAVE TAUGHT ME ABOUT MY LORD
HAVING THE FAITH OF A CHILD
Mathew 18:2-4—He (Jesus) called a child and had him stand among them.
And he (Jesus) said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become
like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore,
whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven.
NIV
It is fun and interesting and inspiring to work with young barrel racers.
When they get on their horses there is no doubt in the young riders mind
the horse will do what they ask them to do. Their faith in their horses is so
pure and innocent and trusting.
It amazes me when I see these young people attend their very first barrel
race and just go blazing from the gate with complete and total trust in
their horse. The end result is the horse usually goes into the arena and
turns three barrels and behaves like it has been running barrels all of its
life.
As we grow older and barrel race for several years we become cautious
and many times do not trust our horse or our instincts. That lack of faith
usually causes the horse to either be confused or misbehave or both.
The faith of children is, to me, wondrous. They have not become cynical
and untrusting. Whether it is faith in their horse or faith in God the
innocence of a child should strike awe in all of us.
If you ever pray with children you know what I mean. Their prayers are so
simple and matter of fact and when they say “amen” they just figure the
deal is done. That is why, I believe, the prayers of a child are so powerful!
I love praying with children.
As we grow older we sometimes carry many scars from the battles of life.
We grow doubtful and untrusting. But God’s word tells to follow Jesus
with the faith of a child. NEVER doubting. ALWAYS trusting. Realizing if a
prayer request is not granted God has his reasons and we just need to
trust him. Maybe the timing is not right. Maybe our motives are out of
whack. Whatever the reason we must learn to place our faith in God’s
timing and judgment and not our own. When we learn to trust God it is
amazing how much easier life becomes. It is similar to when we finally
learn to trust our horse. The runs smooth out and become really fun.
We adults need learn to have fun like the children we watch. We need to
recapture that childlike faith. Watch the children. They can teach you a
lot!