Even a Good Horse Gets Spooked by a Shadow Sometimes
Good morning, friends. Before the coffee cools and before we get the day’s work started, I want to take a minute to settle our spirits and look at Proverbs 3:5, where the Word tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.” That’s a verse we’ve all heard a thousand times, but sometimes the hardest miles to travel are the eighteen inches between our head and our heart.
You know, it’s funny how we can wake up feeling steady, grounded, and ready to take on the world, and then one little thing blows across our path and suddenly that peace gets rattled. It doesn’t even have to be a mountain in the road; sometimes it’s just a phone call you weren’t expecting, a number on a feed bill that makes your stomach tighten, or just a heavy feeling you can’t quite shake off. It’s wild how fast our minds can go from calm to chaos. One minute we’re riding smooth, enjoying the scenery, and the next minute we’re braced up, waiting for a wreck that might not even be coming.
I was chewing on that very thought this morning—how quickly we get spooked by things that never had the power to hurt us—and it brought my mind back to a ride I took just the other day. I was on a young colt, a good animal with a solid mind and a lot of potential. We were moving along the fence line just fine, the sun was shining, and he was stepping out nice and soft. But then, out of nowhere, an old plastic grocery bag blew out of the brush and tumbled across the trail.
Well, you’d have thought a grizzly bear had just stood up. That colt bogged his head, planted his feet, and nearly came unglued right there in the dirt. To him, that crinkling piece of plastic was a monster coming to eat him alive. He couldn't see what I saw. His eyes were locked on the movement, his ears were pinned back, and his heart was hammering against my leg. He didn’t know that from where I was sitting—up here in the saddle—I could see the whole picture. I knew it was just trash in the wind. I knew he was safe. I just needed him to quit listening to his fear and start trusting my hands on the reins.
And right there, in that moment of dust and tension, the Good Lord nudged my spirit and said, "Joe, that’s exactly what you do to Me."
Think about it. Something unexpected blows into our lives—a diagnosis, a financial struggle, a conflict at home—and we panic. We lock up. We forget that the One in the saddle sits a whole lot higher than we do. We’re down here on the ground level, staring at the problem, spooked by the noise and the movement. But God sees the trail ahead. He sees around the bend. He knows the difference between a real danger and a shadow passing in the wind.
That colt didn’t need to understand the physics of a plastic bag. He didn’t need to analyze where the wind was coming from. He just needed to trust the rider. And friend, that is exactly where we are today. Most of the things that are keeping you up at night, the things that have you looking for a place to bail off, they don't have the power to destroy you. They are shadows. They are wind-blown worries. They feel big because we’re looking at them through human eyes, but God is looking at them from the throne.
So, if you’re feeling spooked today—if your heart is racing and your mind is running away with “what-ifs”—I want you to take a breath and lean back into the hands that hold you. You don’t have to know the outcome. You don’t have to figure out the whole trail. You just have to trust the Rider.
Let’s bow our heads right where we are. Lord, we come to You this morning with honest hearts, admitting that sometimes we spook easy. Sometimes the shadows look like monsters and the wind feels louder than Your voice. But right now, we choose to trust Your hands on the reins of our lives. Help us to stop staring at the fear and start looking up to You. Settle our spirits, steady our steps, and remind us that You see what we cannot. Thank You for being patient with us, for staying in the saddle with us, and for leading us safely forward. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I’ll leave you with this thought as you head out today: A steady horse isn’t the one that never spooks—it’s the one that learns to trust the rider more than the fear.
Rev. Joseph Holmes HC Cowboy Ministries
