We’ve all seen the Westerns where the cowboys are holding their horses on a tight rein, so much that their necks are arched. The horses look like they’re raring to go. It’s good theatrics, I suppose, but not very realistic.
On the other hand, not having any tension in the reins doesn’t work well either. One day, Brian (aka Shaggy) invited his girlfriend out to the ranch where I was working for the summer. He decided to take her horseback riding. I don’t think she’d ever been before. Shaggy put her up on Whitey, his favorite horse, and told her to grab the reins. She did . . . at the very ends, so that the reins looped down almost to the ground. And then they took off, riding much too quickly for someone who’d never ridden before. When Shaggy saw where she was holding the reins, he told her to gather them up. She started pulling them in, reaching out as far as she could and pulling them back as rapidly as she could because the fence was coming up towards her pretty quickly. Did I tell you that this was a cattle ranch? Did I mention that Shaggy used Whitey to chase cows, and that he’d spent a lot of time training this horse? Like any good cow horse, as soon as Whitey felt the tension on the reins, he stopped, instantly. The girl . . . well, physics took over. Her momentum carried her over Whitey’s head and spilled her out on the sand (thankfully) where she rolled a couple of somersaults before stopping. I don’t know whether it was the humiliation of being dumped off the horse or the fact that Shaggy was laughing so hard, but she never visited again.
So when John Wesley said that trusting God is like living with a loose rein, he didn’t mean riding horseback like Shaggy’s girl. Nor did he mean like the Lone Ranger rides Silver on the silver screen. I suspect that he meant that there’s a trust between a horse and his rider that develops over time, communication, shared experiences, shared accomplishments, heartaches, and victories.
When I was eleven, I spent a lot of that summer helping Uncle Mike chase cows. One particular day we were bringing in thirteen dries (cows that didn’t have a calf and needed to be sold at the sale barn). Those cows wanted to go anywhere but the house. Buster, my horse, was a wise, sure-footed cow horse; I was just along for the ride. At one point, the cows doubled back and Buster spun right after them. I literally reached out and grabbed the saddle horn to pull myself back into the saddle. Buster immediately stopped the pursuit so that I could regain my seat. Like I said, Buster knew what needed to be done; I was more of a liability than a help.
It’s ironic, isn’t it. We like to think when we’re up on horseback that we’re in control. We’re calling the shots. That 1800-pound horse is actually the one in control. He’s the one doing the work. He’s the one getting me from Point A to Point B. He’s the one who’s letting me go along for the ride. The amazing thing is that, when I have developed a relationship, the horse wants to please me, so he’s willing to go where I point him and chase cows when I need to move them from one place to another. But Buster also made it quite plain that he was really the one in control the day he stepped on my boot. Ever try to push a horse off the foot that he’s standing on?!
I liked John Wesley’s quote. Living with a loose rein means that there’s trust between you and God. But it’s more than that. It’s relying on Him rather than ourselves, living “with a calmer, more relaxed attitude” because you know that He’s really the One in control. He’s the One moving you from Point A to Point B. He’s the One getting the work done and providing the power. But because we have a relationship, God is also very attentive to our cry. He listens to our prayers. He takes care of us when we almost fall out of the saddle. It is not the kind of relationship where we hold Him at arm’s length - with a distant communication that is really no communication at all. When we play at being a Christian, it’s not God’s fault when we find ourselves rolling head over heels from some poor life decision. At the other end of the spectrum, God is also not anything like a genie in a bottle; He is not under our control like the stereotypical silver screen horses; He doesn’t exist to do our bidding.
God is our Protector. He enables us to work and accomplish great things. He enjoys our pleasure. He wants to hear our voice and He listens to us. But He also expects us to listen to Him. There’s mutual trust and respect and love, and He is our Friend, in the very best sense of the word. And thankfully, if we learn to live with a loose rein, He lets us go along for the ride.
Quote from: Amazing Grace, Kenneth Osbeck, “I Am His and He is Mine,” 1990, pg. 50.)