I want to be like a horse #4...

Job 39:19-25

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse its strength
    or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
²⁰ Do you make it leap like a locust,
    striking terror with its proud snorting?
²¹ It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
    and charges into the fray.
²² It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
    it does not shy away from the sword.
²³ The quiver rattles against its side,
    along with the flashing spear and lance.
²⁴ In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
    it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
²⁵ At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
    It catches the scent of battle from afar,
    the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

How do I say this?  I wish I was a horse.

The verse above is a direct quote from the mouth of God.  Praise like this is reserved for one animal, and one alone.  The horse.  I don’t think there is any doubt even in a cursory reading of Scripture that the horse is the favorite animal of God.  Sure, the lion is right up there.  But the way he takes time to describe the attributes of the horse from its physique to its psyche tells me something.

Here are final two ways I wish I was like the horse based on this verse and this is where this string of posts comes to an end:

“At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’” – I hardly know where to start describing a life where “Aha” becomes remotely familiar in the daily experience.  To let things hit you in such a way where you can’t help but say: “Yes. Wow.”  To be listening so closely to life that when it says something, you can hear it and respond.  To have room for goosebumps and tears.  To make room for ideas and eureka moments.  I love to be around people that live amazed continually stunned at the wonder of being alive.  I can tell when I’m interacting with a human that hasn’t become a machine along the way, but has kept his or her heart living on the razor’s edge of surprise and belief in the potential of human possibility.  I want to snort “Aha” throughout my days…at work, home, and in this “Aha”-deprived world dominated by “Oh well, Oh no”.  To be on the edge of my seat, on the cusp of my spirit, on the tip of my tongue, on the top of my lungs, from the bottom of my heart.  This is a readied and steadied heart.  I want to feel the awe again and snort “AHA” upon hearing the trumpet call of opportunity each day, like the horse.

“It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commander” – This may be the deepest of my admirations for the horse.  To sense things from afar, to catch a scent of what I’m made for and meant for long before it is presently upon me and to lurch toward it.  To hearing the echoes of my commander, my maker, my creator, my master and to come running at the sound of his voice.  To hear the call and to enter into my calling.  But my senses are so dulled to the scent, my heart almost deaf to the shout.  I don’t know if God could shout loud enough on some days to get my attention as life has been muted by reaction and distraction.  But I believe the embers of this intended fire within are still very much active under the ashes.  Oh, that God would blow upon my cold and grey heart with his inspiring breath of life.  I want to catch the scent again, to hear the shout reverberating from afar and to return to my commander.   I was never meant to command myself, I am most alive when I am responsive and sensitive to my commander, his wishes becoming my commands.  I want to be the first to come when he calls, and the last to leave if he stays.  I want to be with him, keeping my ear tilted toward his presence and leaning toward his voice.  I want to be a scent-catcher, a shout-sensor, a life afoot even from afar, like the horse.

May it be so, Lord, in my life.  For if you made the horse with this much glory, how much more the crown of your creation, mankind.  To live for your glory is to live out our glory.