The Lord rebuked me recently. Although loving, His message to me came as a stern word of caution. The Holy Spirit basically said, “Jim, you have a terrible tendency to put the cart before the horse.”
You might find this message puzzling, but I immediately saw what it meant. I think in “word pictures,” and that’s how God normally speaks to me.
So, what does it mean that I tend to put the cart before the horse? I encourage you to pay attention, because it’s possible you have the same problem.
My struggle comes from being a creative person. I have lots of ingenious ideas, some of which are actually good ideas. My hyperactive brain can devise countless new projects every day.
But as I meditated on the “cart and horse” analogy, I saw the great problem my brainstorms often create. I realize that I often come up with countless new ideas and then ask God to get behind me and add His blessing.
As you hopefully can see, this is totally backwards. God wants to go before us instead of trail behind us. Whatever creative ideas we come up with must be HIS ideas. And instead of asking Him to back us up and push from behind, He wants to empower us from the front.
The Cart and the Horse
The “cart” in this word picture represents our projects, careers, inventions, and ministries. The “horse” represents God’s supernatural creativity and power.
Looking back, I see that putting the cart before the horse has typically led to great frustration in my life. So I’m repenting of my longtime tendency to dream up new initiatives and then later ask for the Lord’s blessing.
Have you ever had a similar experience? Although God eagerly blesses what He initiates, there’s no guarantee He will bless what we initiate!
I’m convicted today that my prayer life has not been what it should be. Jesus frequently spent numerous hours praying to the Father, asking for direction and empowerment. If even Jesus had such a need, spending time conversing with the Father is clearly essential for me as well.
I’ve been in some prayer meetings where well-intentioned believers “decree and declare” something they want to see happen. There’s not time in this blog to fully explore whether that’s a scriptural approach to prayer. However, let me just say this: Unless our decrees and declarations are based on clear promises in God’s Word, personally activated by His Spirit, we are engaging in wishful thinking rather than true faith.
Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19, 5:30). What an incredible statement! If we took that same approach, it would severely reduce our hyperactivity. Our lives would be “pruned” of unnecessary activities, enabling us to bear an abundance of lasting spiritual fruit for God’s kingdom (John 15:1-5).
Friends, I hope you will join me in this renewed quest to hear from God and be empowered by His presence. Together we’ll see wonderful things happen as we quit putting the cart in front of the horse.
