Thought for the Month - September 2015

"Try the reins" by Barry Adair
(Whoa boy)

I want to talk a little about "reins" this month. Not "rains", although coming from Northern Ireland, I could very easily! I'm talking about the reins found on horses. These are the leather straps which are the link between rider (or driver) and the horse.

In Ireland back in the early part of the 1900's, before cars came to the fore, a horse was essential in getting about, especially when goods needed to be moved. My mum still remembers her dad taking milk and vegetables to market by horse and cart. The animal in question was obedient and docile as well as being very hard working. The two of them just worked so well together. But to get to this stage my grandfather would have had to train the horse when it was younger. This would have taken months or even years and he would have been able to "feel" the subtle difference in the animal's temperament just by "trying the reins".

God likewise will "try the reins" of those who are His. I know this from the verse I was emailed just this week…

"I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." (Jeremiah 17:10)

As His children, God will search us and try our hearts and minds. (In this verse I'm aware that "reins" are translated as "mind" in more modern Bible translations).

The verse directly before this one, I think, gives the reason why God searches and tries us…

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

In a nutshell, we are all wicked to the core! We may not see it, our nearest and dearest may not see it, but God sees it. God knows what we really desire, even those things and those people who are well off limits! We may fool people with our outward pseudo-holiness but we don't fool God!

God searches all our hearts and He tests us by "trying the reins". To check the condition of my dad's heart, a doctor wired him up and put him on a treadmill to see how his heart reacted under stress. The test was to reveal any weaknesses in his heart. That is exactly what the Lord does in my life and in your life. He wants to see how we react under testing conditions. The Lord tests us to reveal the 'real us', warts and all.

God may also even need to "rein us in" or "pull us up" from time to time. If my grandfather's horse had ever veered off or was in danger, he pulled him up, perhaps accompanied with a loud "Whoa boy!". The powerful horse was stopped in an instant. God may also need to do this in our lives if we are moving too far away from Him. Although, we should also be warned that if we have taken over the reins of our own lives, God may not intervene!

Someday we will be rewarded for our true motives in life, for the true contents of our heart. God needs to mould us before He can use us. Testing is a part of this process. We will fail many of His tests but His love for us will never fail. Let us always turn to Him for our ultimate good and for His highest honour.

May this journey bring a blessing,
May I rise on wings of faith;
And at the end of my heart's testing,
With Your likeness let me wake.

Let the treasures of the trial
Form within me as I go -
And at the end of this long passage,
Let me leave them at Your throne.
                                        (Margaret Becker)

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!