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THE POWER OF
GODLY PRESSURE
in your life
A Special note...
I want to encourage you to visit our archives and re-read the newsletter titled UNDERSTANDING PRESSURE IN YOUR LIFE. It will help you have a better understanding of this important and life-changing subject. Just go to the left-hand column of this newsletter and click on the ARCHIVE button, then scroll and click on the title. Now, let's get started with todays teaching, and as always, we'll start by taking a look at horses!
HORSES DON'T LEARN FROM PRESSURE
HORSES LEARN FROM THE
Yielding the fore quarters and hind quarters, side passing, and backing up, aren't maneuvers that a horse practices on his own out in the pasture. Yet, each one is crucial for a horse to learn if he is going to be all that he was created to be. I use the "power of pressure" to teach my horse these important skills, and I use the "release of pressure" when my horse makes the correct change.
PRESSURE - PRESSURE - PRESSURE
Before we bring it on home to you and me, let's take a moment and revisit the subject of how horses handle pressure. One of the most fascinating things about horses is that they do not learn anything from pressure, itself. Why? Because horses instinctively "move away" from pressure. A horse's mental light bulb only lights up when he experiences a release from pressure. In other words, when a horse makes a correct change in his movement when confronted with pressure, he experiences a release from that pressure, or a reward for doing the right thing. And that perfectly timed release of all pressure is the horse's "Ahaaa, I get it" moment.
 In this picture, I am not using reins to enforce a back-up from my horse. Instead, I'm using my seat and legs to put "pressure" on my horse to take a step backwards. When he correctly takes a step back, I release the pressure immediately and relax my seat and leg aids. That is his reward for making the correct change, and the moment he realizes what I'm trying to teach him.
Here's an example that will help you understand the concept of pressure and release in horses a little better. Let's assume that the goal is to teach our horse to back-up. It's an important life-skill for our horse to know, and yet, we know that backing up isn't a natural thing that horses just stand around and do out in the pasture. Yes, a horse can physically back-up, but a horse is not naturally inclined to do so unless "pressured". Therefore, backing up, especially on cue, is a learned skill that the horse must be taught. In order to teach a horse to back-up, we have to apply pressure. We can apply that pressure through a lead-line during groundwork, or through our reins, seat, or leg aids during riding. As soon as the horse takes that first step back, we reward him for making the change and choosing "the right answer" by offering him a release from the pressure. The more we repeat this method of pressure and release, the better the horse learns to back up with more steps. Pretty soon, the horse figures out that when he "gives" to the pressure, instead of fighting or "warring" against it, the sooner he gets a release, or in other words - his reward!
Now let's talk about you and me...
IT'S NATURAL TO AVOID OR RUN AWAY FROM PRESSURE
IT'S SUPER-NATURAL TO
I teach my horse to back-up from the ground before teaching him to back-up under saddle. I use a 14 foot lead line attached to my horse's halter that I jiggle with varying degrees of pressure, and a handy stick to enforce that pressure to teach the skill of backing-up. Initially, as soon as my horse takes a step back, I release all pressure and reward him. Then, I build on that success by asking for more steps backwards, and repeating the pressure and release.
WHERE'S THE PRESSURE REALLY COMING FROM?
I've been a minister for a long time - long enough to hear just about everything when it comes to pressure, and it's source. The truth is, many folks don't have a clue where the pressure in their life really comes from. That's unfortunate. Why? Because, as I said before, you can't effectively and correctly deal with pressure in your life if you don't recognize it's source.
CONSIDER THIS...
Knowing "the source" of the pressure in
your life is more important than knowing
"the reason" for the pressure. Once you know the source, you will know the reason.
Some people are quick to assign all pressure in their life to the devil. And although it's true that the devil (our enemy) can sure pack on some pressure, he is by no means the author of every pressure we encounter. Let's face it, many of life's pressures are self-induced, and often brought on by habitual lifestyle patterns that we have not been willing to change. On the other hand, there are pressures that occur in our life that are neither the work of the devil, nor in our control. These specific pressures are allowed or orchestrated by God. Godly pressure exists for one purpose only - to bring about a transformation (or change) in us.
IT'S NOT ABOUT CONFORMING -
IT'S ABOUT TRANSFORMING
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
(Romans 12: 2)
When I train my horse through pressure and release, my ultimate goal is always about transformation. I want my horse to transform his "herd mentality" to a "thinking mentality", and from doing his own will to doing my will. In order for my horse to transform, he has to change. Change what? Change his way of thinking.
We often come under Godly pressure when we try to get by in life by simply conforming, rather than transforming. Let's look at Webster's dictionary definition of conform and transform. The word "conform" means to be similar to, or do what other people do. The word "transform" means to change. Right about now, someone's asking themselves, "What do I need to change?" The answer is "You need to change the way you think!" And how do we change the way we think? We change the way we think by renewing our mind. Wow, that's a tall order! So, how do we renew our mind? We renew our mind by taking captive (or control of) our thoughts, rather than allowing our thoughts to take us captive, and have control over us! And all this time, we thought God was going to do all the work for us. Hmmm...
Again, let's take a look at horses to understand this lesson better. When working with horses, I don't try to control 1200 pounds of horse flesh and prey instinct. Physically, that's impossible. But more importantly, as my horse's Master, that's not my job. It is his job to control himself, his thoughts, and his actions. My job is to teach my horse "how" to be responsible for his own thoughts, and hence, his actions. And how do I do that? I teach him "how" through the power of pressure and release. In other words, I teach the horse to be responsible for his own thoughts and actions by making the wrong thing difficult (pressure), and the right thing easy (release/reward). The truth is, humans don't like pressure in their life any more than horses do. But the fact remains, when it's in the Master's hands, pressure remains one of the greatest tools for bringing about a positive and lasting change for the better in both.
LEARNING IS A PROCESS
THAT REQUIRES
PRESSURE AND RELEASE
Learning is a process. If I want my horse to learn something, then I have to be committed to the process it takes to get there. And the process always requires the use of pressure and release.
I first began to learn about the power of pressure and release in 2011. It was a life-changing year for me. That's because I nearly lost my life. It all started one morning while I was ground-working a horse in the round-pen. Suddenly, I felt light-headed and nauseated, and my heart began to pump so loud that I could hear my own heartbeats thumping in my chest. I clutched the lead-line tightly, as my horse slowed to a halt. The sudden onslaught of physical changes signaled that I was in serious trouble. I struggled to tie my horse to a nearby hitching post, then called my husband, and 911. I soon found myself in the back of an ambulance feeling as though we were breaking the sound-barrier, as the driver sped to the nearest hospital.
The trip to the ER that morning seemed
surreal. I remember a perfect peace enveloping me as I laid there in the back of the ambulance, surrounded by strangers attending to me. I realized that I was ready to die, but I wasn't willing to die.
The pressure was on "to change" if I wanted to live.
I took several more unplanned trips to the ER that unforgettable year before being diagnosed with a serious heart condition known as left ventricular hypertrophy. In layman's terms, LVH meant that the septum wall dividing my heart's left and right chambers had somehow thickened abnormally. Since I'd always been in perfect health before, I denied the reality of this strange and new world I found myself living in. And yet, I couldn't deny it's effects on my every-day life. When I over-exerted myself by lifting a too-heavy hay bale, or climbed a steep hill, it became hard to breathe. I reasoned away that not having to lift any more hay bales was perhaps a blessing in disguise. And who wants to climb a steep hill anyway? But other things were humbling experiences. For one, I had to learn a new way to climb aboard my horse using a fence post, or an old stump, or even a mounting block. Thankfully, my horse seemed to like the change.
During the course of that year, I managed to be pretty creative with my newly diagnosed condition. But instead of "transforming my way of thinking", I was simply "conforming the way I did things" to an easier method. After a while, it was strangely obvious to me - I wasn't learning a thing from the pressure in my life. And the pressure wasn't going away. Then, one morning I woke up and waved the white flag. I knew I would have to transform my life, and I would have to start by changing the way I had thought about some things.
The Road To Transformation Always
Starts With Forgiveness...
My road to transformation wasn't by accident. Through an "act of my will", I made the choice to completely forgive the offense of someone who had hurt me deeply and carelessly just a few short years before I received the diagnosis of LVH. I hadn't even realized that I was harboring the offense after so many years, having habitually learned to let it go, only to pick it back up again, then let it go again. But now, something had changed in my thinking. Nope, there had been no apology, not even a sign of remorse from the individual who hurt me. And yet, God was pressuring me with the challenge of forgiving this individual completely, once and for all. Finally, in a moment of perfect clarity, I "gave" to that pressure, and I forgave. With that forgiveness came an immediate and miraculous release from pressure. A release so profound that I knew I had made the right change. And my heart was finally free.
Today, I'm happy to testify that I'm stronger than ever before. At each yearly check-up, my cardiologist marvels at how that ol' septum wall dividing my heart's chamber is miraculously softening back up. It's now only a clinical point or two away from being in the complete normal range. I have no doubt, I'll get there. Meanwhile, my doctor just scratches his head in bewilderment. As for me, I just smile. We both know that according to medical experts, it's impossible to restore the heart's septum wall to normality once it has thickened to such a severe degree as mine had done. I guess someone forgot to tell the medical experts that nothing is impossible with God. Even making the right change!
A Special Note To Our Readers...
We've Been Reflecting On The Past,
And Working On Some New Changes
For The Future!
WATCH FOR SOME NEW CHANGES
TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hi Friends,
I hope you're enjoying the summer, and for those of you who own horses, I hope you're getting to spend some quality time with them. My husband, Kim, and I have been busy, busy, busy here on the ranch this summer. There's always something to do, and just when I think we're caught up, there's more grass to mow, or something that needs fixing. Hence, the reason for being a few weeks late with this newsletter. But alas, my work is caught up, at least for now. That means I have some time to tell you about some exciting new format changes coming to my newsletter.
In order to devote some time to my riding and other facets of this equine ministry, I will be shortening the length of my teachings in the upcoming newsletters. However, the content will not diminished! The ministry teaching may be shorter, but it will be straight to the point, and will also include a specific scripture to help you continue to grow in your faith. God willing, in the future I hope to host some Natural Horse Faith-Man-Ship clinics. During these special events, I will be able to share with you more in-depth Bible teachings using horses.
Along with some other features, our new format will also include a personal blog, of sorts. My blog/diary will not be interactive at this time, due to the fact that there's just not enough time left in the day for me to respond to posts right now. And I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by failing to do so. For now, my blog will simply be some of my personal thoughts of life on the ranch, behind the scene experiences with my special ministry horse, Samson, and his training, and I'll even share some of the life lessons I've learned on a particular day, or not learned, as the case may be! At any rate, I hope it will give you a small peek into the on-going ministry and horse life of this old cowgirl. Best of all, I hope you'll see through my blog and transparency that we're all on this journey called "life and learning", together.
I look forward to seeing you next time with a fresh new look to our newsletter. 'Til then, may God continue to bless you with the faith ride of your life!
With Love,
Susan
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