Taming The Wild Mustang

I remember once I was cleaning Cloud's stall. I must have gotten behind him or something and spooked him, because the next thing I knew he had me pinned up against the wall of his stall with his butt. I just kept talking to him. I may have even yelled at him. I don't remember. I don't believe I bit him on the butt (ha-ha). Finally he let me loose.

Jesus wants to tame the wild broncos in us. I know I can buck sometimes.

I had a vision once. And in the vision Jesus was riding on my back. He's the Master. He's the one with the bit our mouths. We are told to obey Him.

I don't ever want to be in the position that I've bucked off my Master. I want Jesus to have free reign of my life. In order to have that, I have to allow Him to take the reins of my life and let Him do the turning and the stopping. As He is on my back I need to be listening as He says, "Whoa, Laurie, whoa!" or when He's saying, "Go, Laurie, go!" -- when He's steering me to the left or to the right or just going forward in Him.

Psalm 32:9: "Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you." In the footnotes it says, "God's servant must be wiser than beasts, more open to God's will than horses and mules are to the will of their masters."

In Acts 9:1-9, the story of Saul is an example of someone who got bucked off their high horse. "Meanwhile, Saul, still drawing his breath hard from threatening and murderous desire against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and requested of him letters to the synagogues at Damascus [authorizing him], so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way [of life as determined by faith in Jesus Christ], he might bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.

"Now as he traveled on, he came near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to hi, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]?"

As I read that passage, I see how Saul was bucked off his horse. And it even said, "Saul kept kicking against the goal." So, Saul was bucking at the Master. Because of his bucking, the Master took him off his high horse, which we will call pride. That's what is kicking in us most of the time -- our pride doesn't like certain things. A goad is:

1) A sharp-pointed stick used in driving oxen;

2) Any driving impulse; spur, to drive as with a goal; urge on.

He was trying to go on when, because of his rebellion, he was thrown from his pride issues.

Pride is an over-high opinion of one's self. All of us can get into that. When someone says something about us, it cuts and hurts. What is really hurting is our pride. And we may buck saying, "Get off my back!"