Friday, March 25
Don’t Be a Mule
I will instruct you and teach you about the direction you should go. I’ll advise you and keep my eye on you. Don’t be like some senseless horse or mule, whose movement must be controlled with a bit and a bridle. Don’t be anything like that! —Psalm 32:8-9
That line about mules in Psalm 32 made me curious – so I did a little research about mules. Mules are stubborn animals. They function out of a personality that desires to be in complete control. They think independently of their masters, so they are hard to train and are not good at following directions. They fight for control because of their fear of danger. They trust themselves more than their masters and care only about self-preservation. Mules refuse to do anything until they are absolutely sure they will be forced to do it.
When we behave like mules, when we don’t trust God to lead us, we, too, are driven by our need for control. We go into self-preservation mode and we function out of fear. We rebel against God’s love and grace and only cave when we hit rock bottom. Until then, we try to fix things on our own. And when we behave like mules, we are not able to spread God’s love and grace to others, because we aren’t really receiving it ourselves.
I can’t tell you the number of times in life I have behaved like a mule. Frankly, I still fall into mule-like behavior from time to time, but God desires for us to set our mule-like behavior aside. If you read all of Psalm 32, we hear about the weight that if lifted when we turn our sins over to God through confession. In taking that leap of faith, we can find healing, wholeness and, according to Psalm 32, even happiness. In turning to God, we can learn how to trust and following Jesus, rather than walking on our own, burdened by the weight of it all.
“Faithful love surrounds the one who trusts the Lord.” (Psalm 32:10b) In telling God about the things we’ve done that we’re not proud of or the things we’ve left undone, we will discover forgiveness and grace.
God’s love and forgiveness is real. “The one whose wrongdoing is forgiven, whose sin is covered over, is truly happy!” (Psalm 32:1) In Christ, we are no longer defined by the mistakes we have made. We are offered a new possibility for living. Free from the burden of guilt and sin, we can live into the joy and peace God longs for us.
Gracious Master, for too long we have tried to make our way in life on our own. We confess we have been like mules. Forgive us, and free us. May we take up the yoke of Christ and allow him to lead us down a pathway paved in love and grace. In his name we pray. Amen.
Rev. Lane Cotton Winn