There is

LIGHT

At The End Of

The Tunnel

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

(John 8: 12)

  "When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer."

(Corrie Ten Boom)

 Corrie Ten Boom (The Hiding Place) has been an inspiration to tens of thousands of people. As a holocaust survivor, she lived to tell her remarkable story of unthinkable hardship and human tragedy. Most of us will never walk through a life-tunnel so long and dark as that which Corrie found herself in. And yet, because of the light that lived within her through her strong faith in Jesus Christ, she made the journey out of the dark tunnel of her life.

I often refer to life as being a journey. For some, that may seem far too esoteric. I don't mean to trivialize life, nor compare the lives we lead to that of a mere road-trip. But I do believe you and I are traveling through this life much like a sojourner who is on his way home. We don't always know where the road of life will take us. Sometimes it is a road that is well-lit, well-marked, and easy to navigate. But other times, we find ourselves on a road that leads us straight into a dark tunnel. What do we do then? Do we stop, turn around, and run in the opposite direction? Ahhh, if only we could! Unfortunately, these tunnels of life are often one-way roads, and they don't allow room for turn-arounds. So, what do we do? Do we faint, or give up? Or as Corrie so aptly put it, do we throw away our "ticket to ride" and simply jump the train? Absolutely not! As children of God, we keep walking forward towards the light - the light that directs our steps, and extinguishes all of our darkness. 

 God Will 

 ENLIGHTEN

YOUR DARKNESS AND

DIRECT YOUR STEPS

"For thou wilt light my candle; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness."

(Psalm 18: 28)

In this picture, I'm teaching my horse, Samson, to trust me without the use of reins. Because I am my horse's leader, it is important for me to help him navigate his way through the unknown, especially when he cannot feel the security of my hands on the reins. 

Although horses are instinctually smart animals, they lack the ability to navigate their way through complex tasks without leadership. Yes, they are adept on their own at running, farting, bucking, and snorting, in addition to eating all day, napping at their leisure, and producing more than 50 pounds of fresh manure daily. Hmmm, sounds a bit like some folks I've known. Just joking - so don't go getting your halo caddy-wampus! I'm simply saying that left to their own devices, horses would never take the trail less traveled, choosing instead to navigate their way through life on a wide, construction-free interstate.

The interesting thing here is that horses that are never subjected to scary, spooky things in life (things like plastic bags, tarps, water, gun fire, loud sounds, etc.) do not become braver and more confident. In fact, the opposite occurs. Horses that are sheltered from fearful things become more afraid and fearful, and not less. It's often the same with people. Folks who haven't experienced a lot of scary situations in life often think to themselves, "I would just die if I had to go through that." When, in fact, the opposite is true. People die every day having done nothing to warrant an early demise but eat, drink, and be merry, while others fight and win battles with disease, survive divorce, and heartaches of every kind, and end up living a long life full of victory. Could it be that these people have learned through life's tunnel-experiences to face their fears, knowing that God is with them every step of the way?  

 Consider this...one well-known horse clinician often says, "Heart attacks are free so go ahead and give your horse one." What he's saying, in essence, is that the more you shelter a horse from "spooks" in life, the more he will spook and react with fear to everything. This is why doing groundwork prior to riding is so important. Groundwork is your opportunity to give your horse a free heart attack and see how he is going to handle fear before staking your own life on his reaction to it. If your horse is going to have a heart attack over a piece of plastic tarp lying on the ground, it's best to find that out before you get in the saddle. Otherwise, you will end up paying the price for a fearful horse who is not only uneducated about fear, but does not trust his leader when he finally comes face to face with it.    

Samson checking out the dreaded plastic tarp. Heart attacks are free so I always invite my horse to go ahead and have one before I climb aboard! 

Coming

Face To Face 

  With Your

FEAR

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

(Isaiah 55: 9, NIV)

Here I'm teaching Samson to flex laterally without reins. Of course, horses don't make a habit out of standing around in the pasture doing lateral flexion exercises, so they may lack understanding as to why their leader requires it. It's not necessary for the horse to know why I ask him to do something. But it is necessary for him to know that my ways are higher than his, and he must trust me that what I am asking him to do now will benefit him in the future.

 Fears only have power over us when we refuse to come face to face with them. When you rattle a plastic bag tied to the end of a stick in a horse's face, the horse will instinctively turn away from the pressure of the plastic bag (or object of fear). Why? Perhaps like some humans, the horse feels that as long as he doesn't come face to face with the object of his fear, that object doesn't exist. Of course, the object does exist, and will continue to be an agent of fear, rattling and blowing in the wind, until the horse stops doing the "river dance" in order to avoid it, stands still, and finally faces the object of his fear. It's important to note here that when we're desensitizing a horse to a fearful object, we never remove the object while the horse is exhibiting fear. Instead, we wait until the horse stops his avoidance tactics, stands still, and faces the object of his fear head-on, or face to face. 

One of the things you hear most often when a person is going through a fearful time is, "Where is God in all this?" Can I suggest that He is probably right where He was before the object of fear entered your life in the first place? And where was God in your life before fear entered? Only you can answer that question. Your ability to answer that question with complete honesty will determine your peace of mind in knowing exactly where God will be when the time comes that you need Him most. Do you believe that God is by your side caring for you right now, watching over you every day, and guiding you through the times of sunshine? If you can honestly answer "yes" to that question, then your faith is in the right place, and you can know without a shadow of a doubt that God will also be there with you, even when the storms come. Remember, God's thoughts and His ways will always be higher than ours. And thankfully, He is always willing to take us higher, too!

God Says,

I Want To Take You

HIGHER

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."

(Isaiah 60: 1, NIV)

The moment Samson loses his fear and flexes laterally without the pressure of the reins or pressure from my handy-sticks is a day of freedom and celebration for both of us.  

Oftentimes, we look at our life with a narrow and compartmentalized view. Instead of seeing it as a journey of life, we see it broken down into categories; the good times, the bad times, the hard times, the scary times, and so on. Even when we think of dying, we often see death as an end to everything, rather than a continuation of our life's journey as born-again children of God. For many years, my husband, Kim, and I were on staff as ministers at several large churches in the Atlanta area. During those years, we met and counseled with people who were going through some of the toughest times imaginable, - that of burying their loved ones, or dealing with unexpected and even terminal illness. The thing that amazed me most about these born-again people was not the fear-factor, but the faith-factor that invaded every part of their being and made them victorious in spite of the situation they faced.

What is the faith-factor? The faith-factor is that endless hope that rises to the surface of every believer when fear comes knocking at our door. In the face of unanswered questions, it is the assurance that God will enlighten our darkness in His perfect time, and He will direct our steps and make them sure. It is the confidence that we can come face to face with any fear and we will still remain standing bold in spirit. And last, but not least, it is the simple but profound knowledge that God always wants to take us higher! Unless the rapture takes place first, there will come a day when each and every one of us as believers will close our eyes in mortal death. To the world, it may look like our defeat. To us it will be a mighty promotion as we move on up towards our highest calling! Our mortal death will simply be the gateway to the continuation of a marvelous journey that began the first day we accepted Jesus Christ, the light of the world, as our Lord and Savior. Never forget - that same light will always be at the end of every dark tunnel. And that light will always lead us safely home. 

Natural Horse

Faith-Man-Ship

(Teaching biblical faith using horses)

 

 

ARE YOU READY FOR THE FAITH RIDE OF

 YOUR LIFE? 

 
 

To Learn More... 

EMAIL US

 

ksworldmin@aol.com
 

*Susan Klaudt Horse Ministry and Natural Horse Faith-Man-Ship are protected by exclusive copyright, and are outreaches of Kim and Susan Klaudt World Ministries, Inc., a 501 (C) (3) not for profit ministry.
 

 
COMING THIS SPRING... 

We're excited about this coming spring when we plan to post some new YouTube equine ministry teaching videos, and also some fresh, new horse videos just for fun. These new videos will replace some of our older videos that are now online which will be deleted. Be sure and watch for our new stuff this year, and think spring!