A Year of Prayer: Season One Weekday DevotionalsSample

'If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.' (Isaiah 1:19-20 NIV)

Horses are directed by their riders through harnesses and ‘bits,’ the name for the metal bar, and associated straps around the horse's mouth, which are connected to the reins.

A skilled rider and well-trained horse need only the deftest motions to work together in symphony. It’s not the severity of the pull or the aggression in the directive that will gain obedience but consistent guiding and intuitive responses, following many years of familiarity between the horse and the one who rides them.

A good owner who loves their animal and wants what is best for it will be careful to work with and get to know their horse. Spending hours together in dressage, training, riding, caring, playing, and relaxing - the horse and her trainer become one in a unique relationship they alone share. When God is addressing the people of Israel, it may be easy to misunderstand God’s entreaty as only a form of ‘rein pulling.’ Woah there! Stop!

But God is more than a horse trainer or angry deity. God has spent more than mere years building relationships. In work, rest, worship, and play, God has borne with the Israelites and bears with us now through every season.

In spite of direct disobedience, God still uses gentle guidance and a steady hand to call people into relationship. It is not order simply for order’s sake. Instead, it invites us into the intimacy of two becoming one, the Body in motion, the Bride with her groom. Creation is in right order again, flourishing creatively and abundantly. Who doesn’t want that in their own life, soul’s garden, community, and church?

Though our sins are as scarlet, if we return to rest and entrust God with our obedience, we’ll see a beautiful harmony between us again.

Prayer: Jesus, restore and rest my soul. Help me leave behind the things of the past as I step forward toward you and the future, in Jesus’ name.

Action: Look up a picture of a horse and her rider. What do you see of yourself and God in this picture?