Pissed On or Pissed Off...

Ok, for those of you non-horse chick people who are offended by that less than lady-like title, I am very sorry.  However, when you become a horse chick, you become the kind of chick who starts taking honesty real serious...like especially serious when you're on the back of a 1200 pound animal who is ALWAYS honest.  When you start getting face to face with that kind of honesty you come to realize if you're not honest with the horse and yourself, there's gonna be trouble. I mean the kind of trouble that can land you laid up in the hospital kind of trouble.  So you start to call things as you see it.  And sometimes there is no other way to call it except "some days we just get pissed on and pissed off".  Today is one of those days for me.  Now, let me just say that I argued with God about not wanting to write about this today because I really want to come across that I am always the calm, gentle, zen-like, always-in-control-of-her-emotions horse-chick that I always tell others the horse needs you to be...but shocking as this may be, I am not perfect.  Either. Today was another one of those "gate" days with Siena.  Morning feed in the stall, BIG Appaloosa anxious to get to her grain, and then me, already feeling pissed on by a people herd member and not focused.  We get to the stall, she gets jumpy, and jumps her back hoof into a fresh puddle of horse urine, splashing it all over me.  Picture the scene....me, smoke coming out of my ears, mud and urine all over me, and unfortunately a whip in my hand (Yes, God, thank you for that tangible representation) and Siena's big rump in plain view as she ravishes her grain.  I would really like to write that I stayed on my good horse trainer box at that moment and did not emotionally react, but I cannot lie.  Because I am honest.  With God, me, the horse and you as well.  (Sigh) And here I am, now showered and clean, reflecting on what we call in the equine assisted therapy world, "using what comes up".  And what is coming up is my people herd.  Specifically that one I feel has just "splashed urine all over me." In all honesty, I had that moment this morning where I had a different kind of whip in my hand, this one is called the tongue.  And as I took my stewing anger at this person's "urine splashing behavior" to God this morning and was too quickly flipping through the scriptures from my devotional, He stopped me right here... Romans 8:9 "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you...if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." 
And there it is, that call upon my heart that God so wanted me to hear and asked His Appaloosa mare to drive home.  We are not called to respond by laying down the whip of the tongue. We as Christians are called to obey God, not give way to our sinful desires to pay hurt with hurt.  And in fact if I had done that this morning it would have hurt another member of my people herd, the one who did not cause the "urine splashing behavior" but the one who would have directly been impacted by it. Getting pissed on and pissed off is as honest and normal as Siena wanting to get through that gate to her grain as fast as possible.  And God knows this about us.  And he longs to take the whip out of our hands. He longs for us to turn to him instead and bring the deep cutting feelings of  "it's not fair!", "this sucks!", and "I'm so hurt!" to Him, and just let Him be the Father to us He so longs to be. 
 
His Teaching Cues: Have you been going to that whip to deal with those who "splashed urine" on you?  What is that whip you are using in your life? What is that gate God has you at over and over?
 
Romans 8:13-16  "Therefore sisters, we have an obligation- but it is not to live according to the sinful nature.  For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die (*your relationships will die*); But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are daughters of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you received the Spirit of Daughtership.  And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."  
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