Kristi Ross

Cup of coffee in hand, I stood at the kitchen window as the horses meandered through the pasture and grazed in near belly deep grass. My mind trailed along as they headed to the creek at the edge of my backyard for a drink. There is something so peaceful about a mare and her foal. Their peace permeated my room. Soon, the mare picked up her head and nuzzled her baby. Droplets of water glistened as they dripped off her chin and made dark streaks as they trickled down the colt’s chestnut side. I smiled and thanked God for how blessed I was to live where and how I do.  

View From My Kitchen Window

I often traverse this same path in my mind. Horses lead me to God and God leads me to horses.

I grew up on a horse, ranching and riding in the mountains of Western Colorado. After college, my ex-husband and I trained professionally until our divorce. And over the years, all but a couple horses have taught me as much as I did them.

As I watched the mare and foal, I marveled at how much the young colt trusted his mother. While horses trust each other, a rare few come out of their mother’s womb with even a shred of trust in a human. Most horses must learn to trust us. While learning, that trust will be won and lost many times. The horse may be eating out of your hand one minute, and throw their head up and have a fit the next. They may stand tied just fine and a wind kick up dust and they freak out, pull back, and do their best to break free. It is the trainer’s job to remain calm and patiently build and rebuild trust in all these situations.

That reminds me of what God does with us. He comes to us in different ways to show us we can trust Him. He trains us to trust him.

But like a horse, we may throw our head up and run backward. We move back and forth from trust to doubt and back again. Then, when we truly start to trust the Lord, something significant may happen in our life that causes us to break the lead rope and run back to the pasture of our own will and ways of the world.

Similar to what we do with our horses when they get loose and run off, the Lord follows us to wherever we have ran and starts rebuilding trust again. We bring a can of grain and a halter to the horse. He brings peace and contentment.

We need a firm but kind hand with a horse as we show them it is easier to work with the trainer than trying to fight or run away. We are the same.

Throughout my life, the Father has guided me as He led me through whatever He was trying to teach me. When I got too hardheaded, He would step back and allow me to wind up in a mess of my own making, all to get my attention.  

Like the Lord, when I am training a horse or am teaching someone to train, I often say, “Put him in a position where it is easier for him to do what you want, than for him to do what he wants.” God puts us in positions where it is far easier to follow Him than to not.

When I work a horse on the ground, I like to stand a little bit behind them and off to the side, just out of their line of sight. The horse soon turns to find and face me. Now that I am older and have weathered many training sessions with the Lord, I know not to play hide and seek with Him, but instead to go look for Him.

We want our horses to turn and face us, look at us, step toward us, and seek us. In doing that, the horse learns to trust us and to connect with us. That trust soon builds a relationship, and the relationship leads to love.

That sounds like what our Heavenly Father wants, too.

So, will you turn and face Him, and step toward Him today?

That is my prayer for you, every day.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on my thoughts in the comments section below!

God Bless!