Trusting the Master

A week ago our neighbor gave us a six-month-old colt. We named him Gentle Jack - “Jack” because we wanted to honor the neighbor who gave him to us, and “Gentle” as a way of positive thinking. When an animal grows up to weigh 1,200 pounds you want it to be gentle.

Our neighbor led Jack’s mother from their farm to ours and Jack followed faithfully. My husband and daughter followed along on the mile hike from the neighbor’s farm to our barn. Jack was willing to follow his mother anywhere – he didn’t need to be led with a lead rope. Out of his pasture, up the road, down our lane and into a strange barn – Jack didn’t question it.

Children are like that when they’re young… no questions asked, they hold our hand and just follow.

Jack took his cues from his mom. She trusted her master and Jack trusted her. For almost a week Jack and his mother stayed in our barn so that Jack could get acclimated to our farm. The normally timid colt adjusted to a new environment, new smells, and new people; because his mother in her quiet obedience showed him that everything was safe.

Jack has done amazingly well. While his mother stood by watching, Jack allowed us to put a halter on him, let us place a lead rope on him and walk him around the barn. In less than a week he was willing to move forward, stop and go backwards. He knew if his mother stood by calmly watching, everything must be okay.

We can learn a lot from Jack’s mother.

Our children are observing us every day. They watch us as we journey through life. They observe our relationship with our Master and how we respond to Him. Under the scrutiny of our children, our walk with God is closely observed. As God leads us down new paths and strange environments, our children watch our response and react accordingly. “Is Mom frightened?”, “Is Mom okay with these changes?”, “Is Mom fighting the Master or is she obeying Him?”

It’s not always easy, staying calm in the midst of change. The journey to our farm meant big changes for both Jack and his mother. Did she know that the journey to our farm meant Jack was going to begin his own life with a new family? Did she know he’d be staying here and she’d be going back to her farm?

Jack’s mother stayed with him for the week but then her master came to lead her back to her farm. She stood obediently while he put a lead rope around her and took her from the barn and away from her colt. She walked beside him as he led her down our quarter mile lane. Only once did she look back when she heard Jack whinny to her. She never panicked. She trusted her master. She trusted the plan he had for Jack.

God has a plan for our children. He is the Master, we have the choice to follow faithfully and trust Him that His plan is good. Our response to our Master can greatly affect our children’s response. As they grow, mature, and eventually move on to their own pastures, will we model to them that they can trust the Master?

My girls are still young. They’re still observing me very closely. I have this time in their lives to live before them the importance of following and trusting the Master. When that day comes when they move to another pasture, I want them to be prepared. I want them to listen to the Father’s leading and obey Him. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God knows the plans He has for our lives. He promises that those plans are good plans – that those plans will give us a hope and a future.

I wonder if some day when we’re riding Jack down past our neighbor’s farm, his mother will meet us at the fence and say, “Good job, son. I told you that you could trust the Master.”

A Living Prayer

I love praise songs that are also a prayer. It’s powerful when you can close your eyes and sing the words to God and really mean what you’re saying. Over the years, I’ve found many songs have touched me that way. But one song takes the cake. The first time I heard Make My Life a Prayer to You, by Keith Green, I was moved to tears. Just the title of the song says it all.

The idea that our lives themselves could be a prayer to Almighty God – every action, every word, every motive… puts things into perspective. If the way I treat others is my “prayer” what am I saying to God? Am I living words that bring Him glory?

The Bible tells us to do all things to the glory of God, but putting it into practice isn’t always easy. What I love about this song is that the song itself asks for God’s help in doing just that. It acknowledges our need for help in this area. “Make my life a prayer to You – I want to do what You want me to…”

Just like Paul in Romans 7, this song recognizes that what we do and what we want to do aren’t always one and the same. It acknowledges we have prayed token prayers – but we don’t want to. It acknowledges that we have prayed empty words – but we don’t want to. Our deepest desire is to shine His light and tell the world about Him – that’s what we want to do.

Dying to self it what it all boils down to and Keith Green sums it all up in the last stanza of his song: “I want to die and let You give Your life to me so I might live and share the hope You gave to me - the love that set me free.” To truly make our lives a prayer to Almighty God takes dying to self. There is no other way. As long as “self” is sitting high up on her perch, my life prayer won’t be the sweet aroma that God desires it to be. But the great thing is, He is patient with me and He loves me. Imagine – our lives can be a prayer to Almighty God and He’ll help us do it.

Make My Life a Prayer to You

Keith Green

Make my life a prayer to You

I want do what You want me to
No empty words and no white lies
No token prayers no compromise

I want to shine the light You gave
Through Your Son You sent to save us
From ourselves and our despair
It comforts me to know You're really there

Chorus
Well I want to thank You now
For being patient with me
Oh it's so hard to see
When my eyes are on me
I guess I'll have to trust
And just believe what You say
Oh You're coming again
Coming to take me away

I want to die and let You give
Your life to me so I might live
And share the hope You gave me
The love that set me free

I want to tell the world out there
You're not some fable or fairy tale
That I've made up inside my head
You're God the Son and You've risen from the dead

Chorus

I want to die and let You give
Your life to me so I might live
And share the hope You gave to me
The love that set me free

Donuts in the Snow

My husband was doing donuts in the snow with our four-wheeler today. Being the type of person who loves to look out at the clean, freshly fallen snow, free from even the footprints of my dog, I was frustrated. “You ruined the snow!”

            The smile and look of utter exhilaration that was on my husband’s face was not abated. “You’ve got to try that!”

             The snow was already ruined and I really had nothing better to do, so I slipped on a pair of boots, gloves and my coat and set out to try this new experience.

Our four wheeler does not have four wheel drive (which has made my children ask why we call it a four wheeler…) thus making it much more squirrelly in the snow. One time around the yard and I was convinced that this was fun.

             My husband and children are often times great reminders of the fun that’s out there waiting to happen if I’d only stop worrying about “messing up the snow.”

               Years ago an older friend of mine told me that when my children are grown, they won’t remember a clean kitchen, a spotless bathroom and a perfectly tidy house. “What they will remember, however, are the
good times you share as a family. There will be plenty of time for a perfect house. Enjoy your children while they are young.”

            Sometimes, when I look at a sink full of dirty dishes, it’s easy to forget that truth. Can I set aside the “perfect snow” and play a game with my children, make their favorite cookies with them, pretend the woods are Narnia and hike into another world with them or even read them a book? Those are the things that make memories.

            The older my girls are getting, the more I am reminded that I need to stop cherishing the perfect snow and go make some donuts.