Recently I was blessed to take a trip to Arizona to meet a very special friend and her family. We visited a lodge for a night and decided to go horseback riding.

Iam a city girl; the last time I was on a horse was almost 20 years ago when my children were little. That ride was on flat ground, I had not idea what I was about to experience on this horse ride.

When we got to the trail place all was well. We got up on the horses and to be honest it never entered my mind about where we would be going. I was soon to find out!

The ride started out on flat ground and before I knew it we were headed up a mountain. My friend and I both had pretty good horses. The trail guide led about five horses up that mountain. I learned a lot from this trail ride and thought I would share it with you. Of course all were spiritual lessons and I pray you will be blessed.

I learned once the decision was made to go there was pretty much no backing out, we were there and even though I didn't have a clue, we were about to go on an experience of a lifetime. We had committed to going, made the appointment and showed up on time. Much like once we commit ourselves to the Lord it is a done deal.

I learned that once you are on the horse and the trail has started there is no turning back. About a quarter of the way I started to get sick, my stomach was a bundle of nerves, I realized I was on this horse that was following other horses and the only control I had was to hold on to the reins. I yelled up to the trail guide and asked her to stop because I was not feeling well. I thought that somehow she would say I could turn around and go back, but that was not the response I got. Instead she said, just rest a bit and you will be okay. I am not sure whether that scared me more or not, knowing now there was no turning back I then asked the next question..

I said, how much further are we going, she responded, we will go up and then come back down. I didn't look to see how high up was, guess I didn't want to know. But the one thing I knew was that I was going whether I wanted to or not.

Once we commit ourselves to the Lord His Spirit seals us in Him, we are going forward even if we get scared along the way. We know the end is when we get to heaven, but we do not know how long that will be or what is ahead of us. We begin to just go with the flow and head to the mountaintop.

As we went further the trail guide would give us instructions. She told us when the horse was going uphill to lean forward, and when going down to lean backwards. She told us to watch out for the trees and to push off of them, as this was a very NARROW path with trees on either side of us. When we got to very steep inclines or declines that were covered with rocks, she told us to just let the horse do the work because they knew the trail and they knew how to get around those rocks. When it was going to be a dangerous turn she warned us, but also told us not to be afraid, but again let the horse go the way he knew how to go.

All of this got scarier by the moment for me, and if you saw the trail you would understand. At times we were going straight up, other times straight down. There were curves and some big rocks that we had to get around. All of this time she is pointing out places of interest which most of them I missed because I was so busy watching the horse and making sure he went where the other horses went.

My friend was in back of me enjoying the ride, sometimes I looked back and she seemed pretty far back, I found out later that her horse went a different way than the rest around some of those scary places. She had prayed when we first began and told her horse that she was giving him the mind of Christ to get her there and back safely. I guess that is why he chose his own path.

Every time I thought we had reached the top and would be headed back down we went up another incline, the only breaks were some flat land in between, when there I would take a deep breath to get ready for the next thing that was coming up. Sadly, I missed a lot of the scenery because I was too nervous.

That is part of what I have learned, we are so worried sometimes about the end of a thing, or the middle part when it seems we hit a crisis, that we miss what God is doing along the way. We miss the beauty of it all, and that beauty sometimes is what He is doing in our hearts and our lives, but we get so overtaken with the situation that we lose our focus. When the trail guide told us to just let the horse lead the way that meant letting go of control for me. I had to trust this horse beyond a normal level of trust. There were cliffs and one wrong step by the horses could have left any of us in bad shape. But there was no choice, I had to trust, there was no other way to get back to the stables but to stay on this horse.

There is no other way to heaven but through Jesus Christ. We are safe in Him, we can hold on to HIS REIGN IN GLORY to get us to that mountaintop in this life and in eternity. We know we are going to get there, we sometimes don't see how, but HE does, He has traveled this way before, He knows the way. When we get to those rocky places, and we are afraid, HE IS THERE, He knows what steps to take. I believe He wants us to just Rest in Him and let Him lead the way.

Just as I learned to trust that horse whether I wanted to or not, we also learn to trust in CHRIST through the things we go through, even though we may not want to go through them. When things are all uphill we are excited and scared at the same time. Excited because we know He is taking us somewhere but scared because we have not been this way before.

When the Israelites crossed the Jordan, the Bible says, they had never gone this way before but they had to trust in their leader, Joshua to lead them to the other side. Just as we trust Jesus more and more every day to bring us to the Father for eternity and to get us through each and every day even when we don't know the way. There were times on the horse when I had to do something, either lean forward or backward, just to make the ride a little easier know there are times for us in the Lord when He is telling us what to do that will make things a little easier for us. It might be to pray, to praise, to rest, to intercede or to just be still. He knows what is best for us and all we have to do is listen to HIM.

Just as she told us to watch for the trees the Lord tells us to be aware of the enemy who roams about like a roaring lion. During the ride, most of the bigger trees seemed to be on my right, so that is where I was focusing, things were going okay when all of a sudden my left knee was banged into a tree. I was not looking, I was not aware of the trees on both sides. This tree by the way was a little tree but when you bang into it on a horse it can hurt. I think when we are looking just in one direction and not aware of all that is going on around us, we might get sidetracked and get slammed by the enemy.

Iwas quite busy on this ride, watching the trees, remembering when to lean forward and backward and when to just let the horse go the way he knew to go. I am just as busy as I follow the Lord, knowing what to do when is an important lesson I believe we are all learning every day. I know one thing, my main focus the whole time was the horse I was on and what he was doing. So it is in Christ, our focus must remain on Him and what He is doing in our lives in order for us to get to that place that He has ordained for us. I thank My God that Jesus is Our King, the Holy Spirit is Our Guide, and daily when we seek the Lord and follow after the Spirit we will always be safe in His care. He will bring us home safely.

The most amazing part of all of this is that I thought I would be in so much pain when this was over. I have not been on a horse in 20 years, but Praise the LORD there was no pain. The Bible tells us when we get to heaven, there will be no more tears, no more pain, when this life is over we will have a feast in heaven at the table of the Lord. Don't listen to the enemies lies that what you are going through will last forever, it will not, Our God is able to bring you through and at the end of that trial you will not even remember what you went through.

The pain you think will never end, will end, God will see to it for HE is faithful to HIS word and to us. TRUST HIM! His word says, "The Blessing of the Lord comes and brings no sorrow with it." Watch for those blessings, keep your eyes on Him and know whatever may be happening at the moment can and will change by the power of HIS HAND.

JESUS LOVES YOU! LET HIS SPIRIT LEAD THE WAY DAILY!