Hearing God’s Voice

A true story was told to me from the man himself, about a young Bucking horse he had bought, with aspirations to take her out of the harsh sport of Bucking, and turn her into a gentle and compatible riding horse. From the beginning he was told that one could never take the bucking out of a Bucking horse, which over the course of a year he learned the hard way.

It was this final bucking off experience with his young horse that the man cried out to God, saying:

“God, I thought you were in my decision to take this horse out of the sport of Bucking, but it appears that I was wrong. Though Lord, before I make the decision to sell this horse, I want to hear your voice if that is the right decision or not. Now Lord, you know I am a simple man who needs to hear your voice plainly, clearly, and without confusion, so I ask that you would do that for me today. Please Father; give me the wisdom to know what I should do.”

It was later that morning that the man headed to church, where he experienced one of the longest and worst sermons ever preached. In fact, so bad that even the pastor apologized for it. But it was not what was said during the sermon that affected that man that day, but rather the words that followed, when his pastor told the congregation that, “if you guys hear nothing else today, I want you to hear this one word, but first, if you have a pen and a piece of paper, I want for you to write this down: Never Get Rid Of Hope.”

Upon hearing this spontaneous word, the man stood up and asked the pastor to say those words again, which in response the pastor replied, “Never Get Rid of Hope!” The man was so overjoyed with those words that he began to run around the sanctuary crying out, “Say that again Pastor!”

The pastor was so moved by the response of this man that after the service he and his wife went up to the man to find out what made him respond so charismatically. The man replied:
“Pastor, my horse’s name is Hope!”
It was from that day forward that the man never again was bucked from his horse Hope, receiving ultimately his heart’s desire, a gentle and compatible riding horse.

James 1:5 – Matthew 7:7-8 – Proverbs 13:12

True Story – 7/2009

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