Did God's Lesson Have to Be at Her Expense?

[SeekingHeart]

I woke up this morning with the intiuitive, instinctual knowlege that God had something very important to teach me today while I was at the barn with my horses. And, oh, I learned a multitude of lessons about trusting my instincts, my mother's instincts, not turning my gelding out to run with another horse ever again, and to never completely and fully trust any living being, no matter how normally sweet they are, to not have a mean streak.

But did this lessons have to coem in the form of the pain of my poor, defenseless horse?

I know this is long, but I'm hoping knowing the whole story will help you give better insight to this one bog lesson that I feel I'm missing from all this....

OK, so I have been turning Solo out with Feather to run and play together since I got them both back in 07, I believe. That's a couple of years now. Normally uneventful.

Today they were turned out together, and they were just toodling around, so I went down to the bottom of the property to with my mom to pull Bandit out to work him.

Mom notices my other horse, Solo, kinda "herding" Feather around a bit, just prancing circles around her. She squealed and kicked when he got to close, and he sort of back off and just looked at her. Suddenly, he started to seriously herd her. My mother commented we should seperate them.

By the time we managed to run up to the top of the property where there were turned out, Solo was in fully fledged aggressive mode and was chasing Feather at top speed, ears flattened, head snaked out and biting her HARD. He was chasing her so fast the poor girl's hind legs went out from under her and under the fence a few times. Somehow, she managed to get up and keep running, but every time she stumbled or fell, he was ON her like white on rice, biting and trying to stop her into the ground.

We hurried into the arena, where we attempted to slow them down and sitract Solo, but he was having none of it. He was fixated on running Feather into the ground. It was disturbing watching his behavior and being able to do nothing to stop him as Feather litterally ran for her life, eyes open wide and showing whites while trying to kick out at him and still get away. As soon as we got into the arena, Feather immediately made a mad dash for us, ears pricked and neighing to us, but Solo was so hot on her heals she had to turn away from us. This happened a few times apparently after I ran to go get grain.

I brought the grain in and shook it, and again, Feather ran straight for me, only to be chased off again by Solo, who could have cared less that I had some oats to tempt him with. He wanted her dead.

Finally, my mother and I had a thought at the same time: Open the gate, let Feather run through, and slam the gate in Solo's face.

By this point, the poor old girl was tiring, and was badly cut up. I ordered my aunt to move out of the way, called to Feather, and once she took off for me, my mom tossed the lead rope in front of Solo to distract him (which it barely slowe dhim down, but that proabaly saved me!)I opened the gate and let her slip through before yanking the gate closed. I barely had time to do that as Solo barrled straight towards me and I thought for a moment that my sweety **** of a horse was going to run me down. I raised both arms and started shouting at him in the loudest, gruffest voice I could. Thank God, he turned at the last moment and then, finally, stopped.

I immediately left him with my mom while I went to go find the now loose Feather. I found the poor thing huddinling in the cave-like hay banker, not eating, just standing there, shaking and puffing. As soon as she saw me, she trotted up to me and stopped in front of me, quivering and dripping in sweat. I stood and stroked her for a moment, murmmering how sorry I was and inspecting her wounds.

She had 6 nasty chunks of hair scraped from her hindquarters and back, a cut on the front left (nothing serious thankfully), and some small chunks taken out of her skin as well as one long, pretty deep laceration on her right hind.

I walked her around a bit, at which point it became clear that she was pretty lame, and that all the galloping and falling had caused her stiff hip and the leg with the bad suspention to hurt pretty bad.

IF I ahd been the one hurt, I wouldn;t complain about God's lesson that I am seeing from all this. But my poor old horse, Feather had to suffer for me to learn these lessons??

Why??

[MelodyCat]

Sometimes the lesson is learned more thoroughly when the one you love is hurt and not yourself.

We can bear up pain we caused ourselves from our own mistakes more easily. You are much less likely to repeat the same mistake if there is a chance that some one you love very much will get hurt.

I hope your horse is able to recover from her wounds.

Edited March 27, 2010 by MelodyCat

[~candice~]

God often uses circumstances and events to teach us. I don't know whether God had to make that happen to your horse, or whether it was going to happen anyway, but either way, He used it to teach you.

Something similar happened to me when I got saved.

(It's in my testimony in my signature)

Basically, I had decided to roll the dice and wait until I was 30, so I could live a sinful youth, and then repent at 30. The short story is that after I made this decision, four people died within a few months. I was 17. Two of those who died were my age. This really got my attention. None of these people were Christians.

Did God orchestrate this for me, or did He use the events He knew were about to unfold for His good?

Either way, listen to His teaching, and give thanks that He is instructing you and disciplining you. A Father only does that to His children .

[nebula]

The Old Testament is full of stories like that. This is one of those questions that many theologians puzzle over.

I wish there was a neat, simple answer that would make you feel better.

But I will make a guess at one thing. I wonder if the reason the Lord had to give you a dramatic and traumatic lesson might be because there is a situation coming in which if you don't learn this lesson, the consequences will be more severe. (It may not be about the horses, either.) It's just a guess from a rational perspective, not a prophecy.

But right now, I don't think rational thinking is what you are crying out for. You feel hurt and perhaps scared.

Trust that the Lord loves Feather, too. And trust that the Lord is faithful. We can't see the end from the beginning, but He can.

I think of a song by Twila Paris:

Sometimes my little heart can't understand

What's in Your will, what's in Your plan.

So many times I'm tempted to ask You why,

But I can never forget it for long.

Lord, what You do could not be wrong.

So I believe You, even when I must cry.

Do I trust You, Lord?

Does the river flow?

Do I trust You, Lord?

Does the north wind blow?

You can see my heart, You can read my mind,

And You got to know That I would rather die

Than to lose my faith In the One I love.

Do I trust You, Lord?

Do I trust You?

I know the answers, I've given them all.

But suddenly now, I feel so small.

Shaken down to the cavity in my soul.

I know the doctrine and theology,

But right now they don't mean much to me.

This time there's only one thing I've got to know.

Do I trust You, Lord?

Does the robin sing?

Do I trust You, Lord?

Does it rain in spring?

You can see my heart, You can read my mind,

And You got to know That I would rather die

Than to lose my faith In the One I love.

Do I trust You, Lord?

Do I trust You?

I will trust You, Lord, when I don't know why.

I will trust You, Lord, till the day I die.

I will trust You, Lord, when I'm blind with pain!

You were God before, and You'll never change.

I will trust You.

I will trust You.

I will trust You, Lord.

I will trust You.

[yaright]

I woke up this morning with the intiuitive, instinctual knowlege that God had something very important to teach me today while I was at the barn with my horses. And, oh, I learned a multitude of lessons about trusting my instincts, my mother's instincts, not turning my gelding out to run with another horse ever again, and to never completely and fully trust any living being, no matter how normally sweet they are, to not have a mean streak.

But did this lessons have to coem in the form of the pain of my poor, defenseless horse?

I know this is long, but I'm hoping knowing the whole story will help you give better insight to this one bog lesson that I feel I'm missing from all this....

OK, so I have been turning Solo out with Feather to run and play together since I got them both back in 07, I believe. That's a couple of years now. Normally uneventful.

Today they were turned out together, and they were just toodling around, so I went down to the bottom of the property to with my mom to pull Bandit out to work him.

Mom notices my other horse, Solo, kinda "herding" Feather around a bit, just prancing circles around her. She squealed and kicked when he got to close, and he sort of back off and just looked at her. Suddenly, he started to seriously herd her. My mother commented we should seperate them.

By the time we managed to run up to the top of the property where there were turned out, Solo was in fully fledged aggressive mode and was chasing Feather at top speed, ears flattened, head snaked out and biting her HARD. He was chasing her so fast the poor girl's hind legs went out from under her and under the fence a few times. Somehow, she managed to get up and keep running, but every time she stumbled or fell, he was ON her like white on rice, biting and trying to stop her into the ground.

We hurried into the arena, where we attempted to slow them down and sitract Solo, but he was having none of it. He was fixated on running Feather into the ground. It was disturbing watching his behavior and being able to do nothing to stop him as Feather litterally ran for her life, eyes open wide and showing whites while trying to kick out at him and still get away. As soon as we got into the arena, Feather immediately made a mad dash for us, ears pricked and neighing to us, but Solo was so hot on her heals she had to turn away from us. This happened a few times apparently after I ran to go get grain.

I brought the grain in and shook it, and again, Feather ran straight for me, only to be chased off again by Solo, who could have cared less that I had some oats to tempt him with. He wanted her dead.

Finally, my mother and I had a thought at the same time: Open the gate, let Feather run through, and slam the gate in Solo's face.

By this point, the poor old girl was tiring, and was badly cut up. I ordered my aunt to move out of the way, called to Feather, and once she took off for me, my mom tossed the lead rope in front of Solo to distract him (which it barely slowe dhim down, but that proabaly saved me!)I opened the gate and let her slip through before yanking the gate closed. I barely had time to do that as Solo barrled straight towards me and I thought for a moment that my sweety **** of a horse was going to run me down. I raised both arms and started shouting at him in the loudest, gruffest voice I could. Thank God, he turned at the last moment and then, finally, stopped.

I immediately left him with my mom while I went to go find the now loose Feather. I found the poor thing huddinling in the cave-like hay banker, not eating, just standing there, shaking and puffing. As soon as she saw me, she trotted up to me and stopped in front of me, quivering and dripping in sweat. I stood and stroked her for a moment, murmmering how sorry I was and inspecting her wounds.

She had 6 nasty chunks of hair scraped from her hindquarters and back, a cut on the front left (nothing serious thankfully), and some small chunks taken out of her skin as well as one long, pretty deep laceration on her right hind.

I walked her around a bit, at which point it became clear that she was pretty lame, and that all the galloping and falling had caused her stiff hip and the leg with the bad suspention to hurt pretty bad.

IF I ahd been the one hurt, I wouldn;t complain about God's lesson that I am seeing from all this. But my poor old horse, Feather had to suffer for me to learn these lessons??

Why??

That's a pretty strong witness concerning natures of creatures. There are many examples of natures of animals used in the bible to teach us a little bit about who we are and why we are that way in God's sight. I know every person who has done good, is a sinner who has hurt someone else; But we sure hate it when someone personally hurts us. You likely would not have seen this agressive nature in Solo unless Feather suffered before you personally suffered Solo's aggression. These natures can be found in all creatures of God, including people. Those natures are not limited to any one particular creature "according to each kind" What you did for both Solo and Feather became necessary. And when we sinned against another person a form of judgement and separation became necessary. God has woven these things into the fabric of life. Some ask, "Why do the innocent have to suffer"

Well, as near as I can see, there is One Person who suffered all of our sins to show us who we are and why we are that way in God's sight; And became for us the very hope of our Salvation, even from ourselves.

I'm glad for you, that you choose to care for God's creatures, and make a way for those who have been injured, and did not kill those who do harm; As Jesus made a way for each of us when we had chosen sin, which became the cause for a law that Jesus would fulfill by His own compassion for each of us; even to give His life for another. Life in this world is not without suffering, not without agression. It is good to carefully consider these things.

[2Joyful]

Blessings Seeking Heart,

My time here, I have listen to the Worthy family speak about their pets, sening pictures as if they were proud parents.

I would chuckle and say under my breathe "what the heck?" I also have friends who feel the same way.

Today your story brought tears to my eyes, touching my . Not just for Feather but Solo also. It has

taught me...love has no boundaries, that God not only placed it in our hearts, but in many creatures he created. All we

have to do is extend it and it will be returned as in Feather's case. Solo taught me how dangerous it is to allow things in

the heart where it can drive you to a fury state and blind you to where you can't see right. Even when love (you) stand

in the mist, you can mistaken it for hate. But in the' moment of a tickling of an eye' if we allow the Holy Ghost to bring

back to our remembrance, God will step in and steer us from harming (Solo) or from being harmed (you). Also Feather,

represented God will always make a way for us to escape.

I pray that your horse recovers speedily. In the mist of it all God spoke mightily....

Joyful

[SeekingHeart]

Thank you all for your kind, supportive words. I have drawn alot from your answers, especially yours, 2Joyful! I have gained a deeper meaning, and this has really lightened my heart about the whole thing. I found myself balming God subconsiously, and being bitter with Him about it, but your posts have shown me what really should be seen out of this, and for that, I thank you, and thank God, for putting your voices out to me.

Blessings to all of you!