Testing God - Post Six

And so, The Unbelievable came to our barn. The owner was expecting us to turn this horse around, as his first trainer was of the opinion that the horse had plenty of talent and ability, if only he wasn’t such a head case. UB had expectations of his own. He made it plain that I was to be the one to take care of him, although I was certainly not on board with that plan. I still harbored visions of what they said this horse had done to past humans that dared to cross his path.

My thoughts turned to just how big a chicken I had become. Not only had my riding dwindled to next-to-never, I was extremely jumpy just being in close quarters with a horse. Any quick movement on their part, and my heart nearly stopped as I darted for the door. Kinda like what happens to me on an airplane.

UB spoke. “You know, you need me as much as I need you. I’m not here by mistake—and if you’ll just trust me, I won’t let you down.”

Could it be that there was something big happening here? “God help me,” I said, and realized it was a prayer I was sending up.

“I am,” God said.

Jerry came over with tack, brushes and a hoof pick to begin getting The Unbelievable ready for the exercise rider to take him to the track.

I swallowed hard. “I’ll do that.”

“What?” Jerry asked, obviously taken aback.

“I’ll be taking care of The Unbelievable, too.” I said.

“Mmmm hmmm,” was the reply. “Give me a yell if you need help.”

Thus began the healing process of UB and me.

Daily Notes: I spoke to one of my best friends the other day, who told me that she is keeping up with this experiment, even though she’s having a tough time getting blogspot to cooperate.

Since she has been tithing in earnest for quite awhile now, she reminded me to keep my eyes open for, and report about, all the mysterious things that will happen, even though they don’t make any sense. She reported that when she was faithful to tithe, even in the face of great financial adversity, tires that were worn lasted way longer than they should have, and her car, which had been sporting an illuminated fuel light for awhile, carried her to work until her next paycheck.

“There have been times when I’ve had to pin a note to my tithe check in the collection plate that says ‘please don’t deposit this check until Wednesday’,” my friend confided.

Which reminds me of one of those clever sayings that churches are fond of putting up on the message boards out front—Give God what’s right, not what’s left. For me, anyway, that has always been easier said than done.

As I randomly opened the Bible this morning, here is where I landed: Mark 8: 34-38

Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?

“If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.” The Message

Kinda harsh, I’d say. I guess what I’m to take from this passage is that this experiment isn’t always going to be smooth sailing. I guess I should expect some rough times and setbacks. I guess I am now officially forewarned. But hey, without bad times, how would we appreciate whole-heartedly the good times? And how would we grow and become stronger? Sounds good, but my prayer is that I won’t chuck it in when the going gets tough. Please, God, stay close by.