Yielded or Stiff?

 

This week I had a bed and breakfast lesson come from Kansas.  She brought a horse that was unyielded in his right flank.  She stated upon arrival that no matter which way she went around the barrels, her right barrel was never good.  When he would start around the barrel, he would stiffen the flank and break motion and pivot at a walk.  At a trot, the pivot became a hop.  We started out doing the basic circle which will always show the rider where the unyielded parts are.  In the circle, this horse would cut in on one side and swing out on the other side of the circle resulting in an egg shaped circle. Funny thing about an unyielded right flank is that it not only causes you trouble on the right, but will also cause trouble when turning left because as you turn left, the horse will push that same unyielded flank out to the right.  This causes you to float out of the barrels and be slow running to the next barrel.  The stiff right flank will cause trouble in every maneuver.  (As will other stiff, unyielded parts.)  It will even mess up your backing up on the horse, because he will back towards the stiff flank instead of backing straight. 

 

Unyielded parts cause bad barrels.  Sometimes you won't know how unyielded they are until you speed up.  Then, the unyielded part becomes very obvious because the barrels are not smooth and the eggs become very wide barrels.  Those tight turns we hoped for become big loops with the butt of the horse swinging out.  It is very costly in time because we cover more ground.  There are some unyielded parts that are very easy to spot and some that are very subtle and cannot be detected except by an experienced rider.  Both are deadly and will add time to your runs. 

 

The point of this devotion is this:  When we accept Christ into our hearts and ask Him to guide the reins of our lives, He can only guide us to the point that we are yielded to His leading.  There are some unyielded areas in our lives that cannot always be seen from the outside, but they are just as deadly to our Christian walk as the obvious ones.  Usually, the first that happens when folks become Christians is that they try to stop smoking and drinking .  They come into agreement that their body is a temple and should not have harmful chemicals put into it.  (1 Corinthians 3: 16-17)  These are areas that can be seen easily from the outside. 

 

Some of the most deadly unyielded parts cannot be detected because they abide within.  We can hide these from others sometimes, but we cannot hide them from the Holy Spirit that resides within us.  We must constantly examine ourselves to make sure that we agree with the Word of God and rid ourselves of harmful unyielded attitudes.  Here are a just a few deadly ones to think about: 

 

UNYIELDED:  Galatians 6:19... When you follow your own wrong inclinations (pride) your lives will produce these evil results:  Impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, spiritism, (that is encouraging the activity of demons), hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group - and there will be wrong doctrine, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties and all that sort of thing.  Let me tell you again as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

 

YIELDED:  Galatians 6:22  But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives (yielded) he will produce this kind of fruit in us:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control: and these are not against any laws. 

 

The unyielded parts in a horse will show up under the application of speed.  The unyielded parts in us will show up when pressure is applied.  Our real self will come out and what is not yielded to God becomes obvious.  Squeeze a bottle of Ketchup and Ketchup comes out.  Squeeze a tube of toothpaste and toothpaste comes out.  Likewise, whatever is inside of us will come out in times of pressure - whether it be yielded parts or unyielded ones. 

 

Just like the horse that was stuck in the right flank area, we must first identify where we are unyielded.  Then we apply the Word of God to that area (God's part) and become flexible and obedient (our part) and soon when His reins are directing our lives, we instantly yield.  What a joy it is to ride a horse that is yielded and broke in his mind, his heart and his body.  We're all in training, and the more we obey and yield, the greater joy we must be to our Master, Creator, Redeemer and Savior.