Standing at the gate
So, the life lesson I had with God this time pertains to the lovely Shania! She is our newest addition to our herd and is a beautiful golden palomino who is considered a senior horse, because she is way up there in horse years. She has been such a wonderful addition because she brings such a peace and calmness with her. She is cool, calm and collected with everything she does. She never seems to get rattled or shaken up by what the world is throwing at her and we love her!
One morning I took notice of her standing and waiting very patiently at her gate. You see with her being the oldest of our horses and the slowest moving of the herd she has been kicked out and is at the back of the herd. The other horses are kind of mean to her and pick on her and take her food and push her all around. So, in order for her to get her allotted food we bring her in at night and give her special food at night and in the morning and we lock her in to keep the other more pushy horses away and give her peace and quiet to eat in. Once she has eaten all her breakfast I go back up to the barn and let her out so she can be with the herd for the rest of the day. Well, this particular day, I was very late in the horse’s book, of when they thought I should have let her out. You see the other horses have caught on to the fact that Shania gets her very own special food, so they literally wait by her gate after they are done and bang and bang on the gate and demand to be let in to pick up her crumbs. So according to the other horses I was extremely late to let them in and they were letting me know it. They were running around and bucking and kicking and hollering and making this big commotion to inform me I needed to let Shania out so they could have her food. So, I went up and shooed the other horses away from the gate and rallied them to another area, after multiple attempts, just long enough for me to run back and release Shania so she could run out of the gate fast enough before the bullies showed up to take her leftover food.
But what I noticed was, Shania was so sweet and calm and just stood there standing right behind her red gate and patiently waited for me. She wasn’t disturbed by the ruckus going on outside her gate, but knew I’d let her out at the right time. The gate she was standing behind was maybe my height and had slots going horizontal all the way down. It is made of aluminum and is very light and easy to move. So, here’s this massive horse just choosing to stand behind this flimsy little gate that has the chain loosely wrapped around the nearby post to hold it shut. In all reality, if she wanted to, she could very easily use her weight to throw open the gate. But nope, she chooses to allow it to keep her blocked in. She perceives the flimsy gate in front of her to be a roadblock, to be a closed door. In reality, all she’d have to do is push it open and she’d be through it and free. It has everything to do with how she is choosing to perceive the object in front of her. Is it an obstacle that is hindering her to move further forward? Or is it a gate that seems to be shut, but with a little push is indeed a door to freedom?
It was in that moment that the Holy Spirit spoke to me about some of the obstacles that I am seeing in front of me today. The ones that I do not really question because I see them and I allow them to hold me back, thinking since it’s a closed door I shouldn’t test it, you know? I have always been a cautious person, so I am not usually someone who goes around knocking on doors that are shut because I assume, they are there for my protection or for a reason. But lately I feel like God has been telling me to reconsider how I see some of the doors in front of me. I mean certain and specific doors he has spoken to me about, not all doors because I do believe some doors are shut for a reason! God is good and He knows the plans of our lives more than we do so I trust Him!
Anyways, I feel like He was trying to show me that what I am perceiving as a closed door may in fact be the door to my freedom. The gate that allows me to be my full self. The gate that opens up possibilities and dreams and opportunities that change the course of my life. The gate that with a little push could be the door I have been praying for my whole life to be.
So, you see I would encourage you to take into consideration that some gates change over the course of your life and that sometimes a closed gate is just how we perceive it, but isn’t actually the truth God has! I know God has a perfect plan for my life and your life! He knew us before we were even born. He picked us and perfectly designed us each for the special purpose he has called us each to. We are perfectly and wonderfully and completely made to do what God has called us to do. Sometimes, all we need to do is push open the gate into freedom and see what God has planned!
Love to you all and I truly feel honored to be walking alongside all of you amazing people and see how you and God change the world!
With love,
Kaley