The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.
Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.” Psalm 32:8,9
People often say, “God has to hit me in the head with a 2x4 to get my attention.” I can relate to that. I wonder sometimes if pain is the only thing that gets my attention. When my relationship with God is in 2x4 mode, David’s words cause me to pause. Do not be like a senseless horse or mules that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control. I’m not sure if they used 2x4’s in David’s time, but I like to think he’s speaking to the notion that God has to do something drastic to direct us or get our attention.
Given David’s words, my picture of a 2x4 has changed to a bit and bridle. So I ask the question, does God have to saddle me up and yank my reins to direct me to the best pathway for my life? Am I that senseless that unless He yanks my reins I’ll wander off into the field of non-usefulness or wander into traffic and get run over by an oncoming bus of disobedience? If a bit and bridle is the reality of my relationship with God, what does that say about me? What does that say about God?
Maybe I’m just plain lazy, or perhaps paralyzed by the fear of getting it wrong. So by sloth or by immobility, God has to rein me in the right direction. Sometimes my petrifaction is so severe that God must dismount and drag me by the reins. This vivid image, God dragging my petrified life to a place that I really do desire to go, motivates me to seek a relationship with God that is not based on the bit and bridle. So I’m pursuing a relationship where communication and respect are the expected norm and the rein to keep me from running off a cliff is the exception and not the rule.
The danger of the bit and bridle relationship is that God becomes the rider and we are the ridden. This type of relationship leads us to view God only as a rider and consists of waiting for God to give us the spurs or yank the reins. I have come to believe that God does not enjoy this type of relationship. The bit and bridle view of relationship leads one to believe that God enjoys being the rider, He is pleased to yank us around by the reins. Let’s go back to the 2x4. Do we think that God enjoys whacking us up side the head to get our attention? If we see God as a stern task master, the cruel rider, we just might think He enjoys whacking us up side the head to get our attention.
Let’s go back to being lazy. We don’t have to think if we’re being like a “senseless horse or mule”. It requires very little mental effort on our part. Very little emotional investment. Very little searching to find out what comes between God and our ability to be in intimate relationship with Him. When the Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” This requires mental, emotional, spiritual and physical energy from us. It’s hard work.
My challenge is to keep on it. It IS hard work, this business of being in relationship with our creator. When we ditch the bit and bridle it doesn’t take to long to realize that it’s a serious life commitment to be in relationship with God. The challenge is to keep on it. Keep seeking. Keep asking. Keep knocking. When it gets too hard, when God doesn’t make sense, when His voice isn’t readily heard, it can be appealing to fall back to the ole bit and bridle, to wait for the 2x4 upside the head. The choice is then mine. Senseless mule or faithful friend?
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