Gentleness and JOY!

Reading time: two minutes.

I grew up surrounded by horses, and was always impressed by their enormity; frightened, really. Many of our neighbors had one or two of the beasts, some as many as a dozen. I can still distinctly remember standing alongside their massive haunches and rippling muscles and feeling tremendously intimidated, until I was told (and also discovered by taking a ride), that the monster was as gentle as a puppy dog.

Watching rodeos and bronco busters in westerns had instilled in me the image of the wild stallion, free and un-ridable, with a mind of its own and strength enough to enforce its own will on the one who dared to ride. No one would tell the beast what to do, especially not some little skinny kid.

To my delight, I found I was fond of taking the occasional horse ride, on one of the gentle ones anyway!

How ridable are you?

No one by nature likes washing the feet of others. Vocational Wellbeing is growing to become mature enough, and humble enough, to submit to a Greater Authority, the One who holds the reins, and to follow where He is leading. The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness that is not a brokenness of heart and spirit, but a will molded into conformity with the will of the heavenly Father, just like Jesus when He knelt at the disciples’ feet.

Mr. Rohde had the most horses in the neighborhood. He was a County Sheriff who rode in the annual Rose Festival parade in Portland. His horses we the most beautiful in the neighborhood, partly because of the way they carried themselves. It was as if they found great joy in stepping along the parade route precisely to the command of the rider.

Sometimes the tasks of ministry are less than glamorous. Most often they are tasks that are unnoticed. Always the work of ministry is a potential source of great joy, if we have learned the humble calling of submission to the will of the Master.

Joy is fuel for ministry, and a spirit of gentle humility as we go about the often burdensome daily grind of our callings opens our hearts to the joy of seeing Christ at work through the seemingly insignificant offering of hands, feet, ears and lips in His service.

The old sinful nature wants to buck and snort in rebellious resistance to the call to submission. The heart of Jesus, a servant’s heart, is ready always with a gentle, “Yes, Lord; send me.”

God bless all of your humble acts of gentle service with the Spirit’s gift of joy. And may that joy spur you on (pardon the pun) to further adventures of faith and service.

Thanks for reading.

Are you interested in helping bring a Grace Place Wellness Retreat to your region?  We’d love to hear from you.  Contact our President/CEO Randy Fauser today to begin exploring the possibilities.  Let’s have a conversation about bringing our Church Worker Retreat to your area soon!