A Gift Horse

Psalms 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

This post is a continuation of “Dead Battery” from yesterday.

It is early October 2013 and Field Trial season is upon us. Field Trials being a competitive season where (in my case) pointing dogs are run on horseback to see which will find birds with the most style, grace, and perfect obedience. For me, it is my current favorite past time.

Last year my dog and I competed on my horse Zip. He is an awesome paint horse perfect for the trail, but for field trials which are done for hours at a time at a faster than walking pace… Zip is not so good. Being ungaited riding him for hours will literally beat your brains in, and a sore back is standard. Most competitors… or should I say ALL the competitors ride gaited horses like Tennessee Walkers or Missouri Fox Trotter’s. Gaited being the way they move, and that movement being smooth and not bouncy like my Paint horse. But to get a field trial proven horse can be moderately expensive. A decent horse starts at about $3500, and it was my goal to have saved for one over the last year. But that didn't work out.

And so Saturday morning I was on my way to my friends 25 acre farm to train my dog Remi, and as I went I was thinking about the two batteries I just put in my truck, and my daughter’s wedding. I was praying, thanking God for the money for the batteries, and really thanking Him that He has a plan for the wedding, but I was also letting go of buying a horse, at least this year. In my mind I was saying there is no way I can get a horse before a wedding, and was really thinking about riding Zip again this season.

Mind you just a month ago my wife was online looking for me a horse. Her only pre-requisite was that she and her daughter both wanted me to get a horse colored blue roan. And she found a couple for $3500 but I never went to look at them for lack of a way to pay cash for them. I could have borrowed the money as horses can be financed, but that wouldn't be a God thing. 

But back to my story… And so after training Remi I was talking to my friend about his 4 horses. I said, "You know that old horse over there is a bad cribber? (Cribbing is when a horse chews on the fence) He said, “No kidding, you want him?”

I said, “You’re kidding right?”

He said, “No, I’m tired of him chewing on my fences. In fact, I’m taking him to Eureka, and hope we don’t come back with him.”

So I asked, “What’s wrong with him?”

My friends replied, “There is nothing “wrong” with him. Except he doesn't like men, because one beat him a long time ago.”

I said, “That’s not a problem.”

To which his wife said, “You won’t even be able to catch him.”

Well it took a while, but to everyone’s surprise I was able to catch him, and get a halter on him. Then we saddled him up, and I took my new FREE horse for a ride. And he did great. Smooth as silk.

Now to add some murmuration to the Gift Horse. The horses name is Huckleberry, but they call him Huck. Huck is was a nickname my Dad was called when I was a kid. And in case you are not aware of it, that color is blue roan. :-)

All I can say is. “Thank you God for loving me soooo much. You never cease to amaze me. How wonderful it is to get a gift that is beyond a need. I love You!”

This as much as anything has caused me to look back and see all the blessings, particularly in the last year. I haven't counted it all up, but I have seen at least $10,000 literally fall out of the sky. (Miraculous expression of God's love and miracle ability.)

I am not destitute, poor, broke, though I hope in spirit broken. My life is not any tougher than anyone elses, but rather a lot easier than 90% of the worlds populations. All of the struggles I write about are not to highlight the struggle, but to highlight God in them. Don't be jealous of me being given anything, and nor do I want you to hurt when I struggle. It is all God at work to bring me to the end of myself so that when I collapse in exhaustion I collapse into His arms. Any struggle is there so I can say to God, "I give up, I surrender, I can't do it, I have to rely on you."

Any blessing is not God saying to me that I have done good, or that I have earned anything, or lived a perfect life if momentarily, but it is there to say, "I love you in spite of yourself." And therefore it all is a blessing. The struggle and the gifts are blessings because God causes ALL THINGS to work together for good. I pray today that God would show you the truth of this, not in my words, but in your life.