“God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure. ”
― Eric Liddell
Remember the old song Holiness? As I was listening to the verse about brokenness I started to think about the process of breaking a horse. As I mused about why someone would break a horse, a couple of thoughts occurred to me.
First, one does not break a horse with the intent of breaking it’s spirit. No, that is the last thing the wrangler would want. The wrangler wants to harness the strength and speed and power and spirit of the animal. The wrangler wants these attributes to remain intact. These attributes are what attracted the wrangler to the horse and captivated his attention. The wrangler anticipates the thrill of one day racing across the open planes on the back of that once wild stallion, and thoroughly enjoying it’s strength and speed and power, together, as one.
I don’t know a lot about horses, but I’m guessing that one day that horse learns to enjoy the joy of the master who is riding on his back, giving direction, and commanding them as a unit. It experiences a new freedom, a joy and purpose that it never would have known had it never submitted it’s will, not it’s spirit, to the wrangler.
I dare to say that the Olympian Eric Liddell could never have said “when I run, I feel His pleasure,” had he never been first broken.