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Listen while you read: "Father Lead Me Day By Day"1 (Lyrics) |
Ephesians 3:17b-19 – And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (NIV)
We all noticed that Frank, my horse, had been coming out of the barn less and less. He needed to be moved out of his comfort zone, so I put a lead rope on his halter and insisted that he move out into the yard. But I realized immediately that something was very wrong. He was walking gingerly, slowly, and painfully. My heart sank as the dreaded word "founder" raced across my mind.
Founder (or laminitis) in horses is a serious condition of the foot that causes extremely painful lameness. In some cases, it may be necessary to put the animal down.
My farrier, Dani, has had a lot of experience with this problem and knew exactly how to reshape the toe of Frank's hooves to take as much pressure as possible off the front of the foot. Obesity is a major cause of founder, and we discovered that Frank had put on a lot of weight. This year's hay crop may have been extremely high in nutrients, so I have reduced his rations. I also started him on a dose of anti-inflammatory drugs. Now, we just have to pray, be consistent in our treatment, and hope that he makes a full recovery.
Sometimes, God needs to move His people out of our comfort zone, too.
As creatures of habit, we often find a routine that we like, and we stick to it. We don't like or want change. We get comfortable as Christians with the way that we think and act, and we are happy to stay that way. But as God's people, He challenges us to keep moving ahead and growing, to keep grasping to understand and know and live out the power of His love, until we are full to overflowing with it. This means change, which can come as we pray and are open to the power of the Holy Spirit, Who is able to teach us and guide us into all truth. Change may reveal a spiritual problem that needs to be addressed so that we may continue to grow and be healthy in Christ.
We may not like God seeking to move us out of our comfort zone any more than Frank did, but remember that whatever God does is always for our good. So, let's co-operate and allow Him to keep moving us forward day by day, that we may live as healthy and full-to-overflowing a Christian life as possible.
Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that You love us enough to seek to move us out of our comfort zone when it becomes necessary. Thank You for the power of Your Holy Spirit, Who is able to keep us growing and knowing You more fully as we respond to His gentle nudging and direction. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
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Thank you, Lynne. Just what I needed to hear today.
Great advice for us all, Lynne. Praying Frank makes a full recovery!
Lynne, there’s much to think about after reading your devotional today. Thank you!
Thank you, Lynne. Amazing how Frank’s problem is a great illustration for all of us!
Thank you, Lynne, for today’s devotion.
I like it very much.
(Québec)
I know how Frank feels in some measure. It has been a time of vulnerability and pain. Thank you for your helpful prayer; means so much. Praying for Frank’s recovery!
Thank you for such a timely message for me. It’s my birthday and you are my favourite writer. Keep up the good work. And God bless you for all your teachings.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging devotional with us today. How is Frank doing these days? I pray he recovered from his sore hooves.
Blessings.
Thank you, Lynne for reminding us not to get too comfortable and stuck.
I hope Frank makes a full recovery. I love hearing about your animals in your devotionals.
God bless you.
Thanks again, Lynne, for bringing back memories. Frank was the name of the workhorse that I rode bareback while he was feeding in our pasture on a farm in Tennessee back in the 1940’s.
We had other adventures when we went about 1 mile to get the mail.
(FL)
Hi.
Thank you for this. Sometimes the I wish the “gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit” was a little more obvious. It would help me avoid some make better choices. Openness to accept changes is part of growth. So grateful for writers like you who take daily life and I connect with scripture.
I hope Frank did not get Founder.
Dear Lynne
We will be praying for Frank as he receives both treatment and medication to move him forward to the restoration of his health. In the same way may Our Lord move us forward to our Spiritual Healing in the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to move forward and not become complacent so that Christ might be glorified in our lives.
Blessings.
Greetings Lynne and thank you for another of your very special writings. So true we can get comfortable in our daily routine and don’t want to respond to a nudging from our Lord to accept changes. The Lord does have the best outcome for us and therefore we need be willing to get moving out of our comfort zone and be assured the results will be good. Blessings for this devotional writing and may the Lord’s hand be upon your horse, Frank, and give him a full recovery from his foot situation.
Good morning, Lynne,
Praying that Frank gets better now that you have realized what the problem is and are taking care of it.
It is a good message of God nudging us to move out of our comfort zone so that we can mature in our faith as He wants us to. The challenges He gives us helps us to find new understandings and to move forward. We don’t always want to do that, but He continues to give us that little push. It can be through a devotional reminding us to listen to God. Thank you.
Blessings and prayers.
Thank you so much for your devotion this morning. I really enjoy the way you see a lesson from God in everything around you and in the situations that arise in your life. I think that’s how we need to live as Christians. We have many hardships as God works to move us out of our comfort zones, but we must always evaluate what happens to us through the filter of our Christian lens and what we know about God to be true. I can work so hard at trying to figure things out and orchestrate my life, but that knowledge does not build me up the way His love for us does….
Today’s hymn also is very appropriate to keep in our hearts as it relates to today’s message.
Thank you.
I thank you for your interesting, uplifting devotionals.
Sometimes I forward them to one of my sons. Thanks again, I enjoy your articles.