I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and you know how I used to love horseback riding!
Riding on a Western saddle, an English saddle, or even bareback… Some of my best memories of days when I was on my feet and involve – you guessed it – horses. Recently my sister Kathy visited me for a week and we started reminiscing about one special day she and I rode our mares with their little foals by their sides. The two mares had dropped foal earlier in the summer, and riding in the pastures was a great way to not only give our horses exercise, but the little ones, too. We never dared venture out near roads where there were cars… We just stuck to the pastures where, at least, those little guys were the safe confines of a nearby fence. Well, you can imagine how exciting it was for those colts to get away from the barn. We would amble along the dirt paths through the pastures, and those two little guys would gallop ahead, kicking and jumping! They'd race ahead, and then run back to their mothers. Race and run, back and forth.
Kathy and I would laugh because we knew that at the end of the ride those two colts would be dragging their feet. They were all about running ahead; definitely not willing to stick at the pace of their mothers. We would laugh because those two little ones dared not go too far away from their mothers… They'd keep looking back, checking to make sure we were coming, but with their youth and energy they were not about to keep in step with their mothers.
And you know sometimes we grown-up Christians are just like those little colts. We race out into our day, paying no attention to Galatians 5 where it says: "Let us keep in step with the Spirit." I know I'm guilty of that. I arrive at the office with a list of things in my head that I want to tackle right away, I pull up to my desk, say an obligatory prayer (I figure I've already spent enough time praying in the van on the way to the office), and so I dive right in. Ten minutes into whatever I'm doing, it hits me. I'm making on-the-fly decisions and off-the-cuff choices without checking in with God. I've raced ahead of him (oh, I know he's there… I dare not get too far ahead of him… I know he's given his general direction for the day, but sometimes I don't check in with him moment by moment). But that's exactly what Galatians 5 tells us to do. There's a certain rhythm he wants us to keep: His rhythm for the day… so that we might hear his whispers of counsel before we make a snap judgment or give a quick answer. When we keep in step with his Spirit, we’re able to more readily sense his nudging when we need a slight change of direction. Most of all, keeping in step with God means were able to receive fresh grace for the moment… Not cruise on the grace he gave us for the previous task on our plate. If God's grace is new and fresh every morning (as the Bible tells us it is), then that means he wants to offer new and fresh grace every afternoon, every evening, and all the hours in between. Grace for the need of the moment. Got that, Joni? Remember that tomorrow morning when you speed into work… The Lord wants you leaning on him every moment.
We get it all wrong when we set the pace; that's something God should be doing. So today, whatever you've got going, remember that it should be the Holy Spirit who sets the pace. It's a big reason why the Bible makes so much of waiting on the Lord. When we keep in step with his Spirit, you won't get ahead of things, or miss out on any important details of his plan for your day. Don't forget that today: keep in step with the Spirit and let God set the pace.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends