The Last Place You Look
Rachael Benson's Blog
I ride horses at Carousel Ranch. It’s a place that does equestrian therapy for people with disabilities.
One time my instructor took me on a trail ride. Everything was going fine until we got to a tree. It was kind of hot and the horse decided that it was time to eat. He started to nibble on a leaf. The spotter who was in charge of controlling my horse in front pulled on the bit. She was saying, “No, not now it’s time to work. “ The horse was determined. He went for it again. My spotter pulled on the bit. This time, the horse backed up very strongly. Startled, I let go quickly and fell toward one of the side walkers. After I landed with my feet safely on the ground, I laughed and said, “Well, there’s a first time for everything.” We drove in a truck back down to the arena.
In many ways, we are very similar to the horse. Many times we want something so bad we will do anything to get it. We don’t want to listen to God until we fall flat on our backs. If you’re using something someone else created, don’t you think that person knows more about the product than you do? When God says no to something, shouldn’t we trust the judgment of the one who made us?
Dear Lord,
Help me to give you complete control of my life.
Amen
Here’s a letter that I wrote to God at Young Life camp last year. Enjoy!
Dear God,
Thank you for your unending love. Thank you that you don’t make mistakes. Thank you that you saw our souls as disabled so you came to save them. Thank you for the promise of a new body someday. Thank you for being there during the tough times. Thanks for putting me into a family that cares about you and sends me to camps like Young Life.
I’m looking forward to the day when I get to heaven and I get to ask you why I had to have CP– then I get to throw my chair in the fires of hell. I look forward to seeing you. Come back soon!
Love,
Rachael
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
How do you know when an elephant has been in the refrigerator? You’ll see its footprints in the butter. My pastor shared that joke in a sermon. How many times have you heard a non-believer say, “Why should I become a Christian? They’re a bunch of hypocrites.”
Unfortunately, in today’s world, most of the time, the non-believer is right. I’ve seen a lot of Christians who tell me they’ve been saved for many years, but yet they act like they’re new. Every other word out of their mouth is a swear word, they constantly yell at the store clerk who accidentally overcharged them on their grocery bill, they’re heavily into witchcraft, they enjoy getting drunk at a bar, etc. Pretty soon a Christian is defined as someone who goes to church. Anyone can do that.
I believe that God calls us to be elephants. He wants us to leave footprints that lead others to Him. “I’m going to get laughed at,” you say. Jesus got laughed at while dying on the cross. He left us the footprints to heaven because He loves us. What kind of footprints are you leaving for Christ? Are they the footprints of an elephant?
Dear Lord,
Please help me to lead a life that leaves footprints for you.
Amen