I want to be like a horse #1...
Job 39:19-25
19 “Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
How do I say this? I wish I was a horse.
The verse above is a direct quote from the mouth
of God. Praise like this is reserved for
one animal, and one alone. The
horse. I don’t think there is any doubt
even in a cursory reading of Scripture that the horse is the favorite animal of
God. Sure, the lion is right up
there. But the way he takes time to
describe the attributes of the horse from its physique to its psyche tells me
something.
Here are the ways I wish I was like the
horse based on this verse:
“Paws
fiercely, rejoicing in its strength” – It’s so easy to
fixate on my weaknesses. To reiterate
and concentrate on the areas I need to grow or am at a loss altogether. How this must break the heart of God! To give us gifts and to watch us wallow in
our weaknesses. To dwell on our failures
and faults. I want to wake up and begin
the day thanking God for my strength and my strengths. Sure, I wish I was better or more or
different on some days, but I never want to live in condemnation of what I’m
not to eclipse all that I am. I’m not
who I want to be, but thank God I’m not who I used to be. I want to rejoice in my strength, like the
horse.
“Charges
into the fray” – So much deliberation. So much hesitation. Most of it prompted by playing out scenarios
in my mind and letting the “if onlys” and “what ifs” stop me dead in my
tracks. But I want to start the day
charging into the fray come what may. To say to life: “Do your worst!” To lunge toward the unknowns and the
variables, to know I was made to bring order to chaos and fusion to
confusion. To embrace the fray knowing
that this side of heaven that is all that exists when our eyelids open at the
crack of dawn. If I don’t come to grips
with that reality, I won’t live…I will exist, worse yet, simply survive. I want to charge into the fray, like the
horse.
That’s a start. I’ll unpack more of what this passage spoke
into my heart in the days to come…
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