The trainer and stallion enter the pen,
Their intentions are miles apart,
The stallion aims to run wild and free,
The trainer, to tame his heart.
The trainer tosses the lariat,
To the horse, an unsettling ordeal;
His heart tells him to run away,
His legs follow with zeal.
Round and around the stallion runs
Only to meet the lariat again;
He changes direction and trots away
To return where he's already been.
And as the stallion runs in circles
Following each impulse and whim,
The master continues controlling the horse
Until he stops and faces him.
So it is when unwanted trials,
Like the lariat, are cast our way,
We try to alter or flee from their presence,
Our own impulses we obey.
Instead of turning to the Lord,
Standing before Him with quieted heart,
We incessantly run in circles
Only returning back to the "start."
But our Master desires that we look to Him,
And often uses trials and strife,
Like a trainer using a lariat,
Within "the round pen of life."
"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter
various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces
endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
James 1:2-4 (NASB)
© 2003 A. Mitchell Moore, Jr.
