Who is Pulling My Buggy?!?

                              

 

         Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century because I love the idea of getting around by horse and buggy.  I enjoy such movies as Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the Wind, Little Women, The Anne of Green Gables series, and Little House on the Prairie.  With this in mind try to picture with me a horse and buggy.  The buggy is my life and the horse pulling it is of my choosing.   It is good when I am pulling my own buggy because I am likely to be doing what I want and getting where I need to be.  Sometimes I can pull the buggy but I don't always know the way to go and even if I do I get tired doing it on my own. It is best when the lead horse is Jesus and I keep my eyes on Him and can trust He is leading me in the right direction. In truth my buggy is often being pulled by a horse that is other people.  How often I allow others to pull my buggy where they think I should be going or more correctly where I think they think I should be going.  

An example of this is when I hitch my buggy to my mother in a given situation. If I look I will see she is  hitched  backwards and does not even see where I need to go and where she thinks I should be is nowhere near where we are and I end up in the wrong place every time because it is what she wants or thinks is right. It is no wonder that when fear and doubt are pulling my buggy I am squeezing my eyes closed in denial in hope that the approaching cliff will disappear.  If I stop long enough to ask myself "What do I want?" I will see what I need and where I need to go and can take my buggy to that place better than going wherever or being whatever I think others want me to be, or doing what I think others want me to do. When I am looking to others to lead my life and make me happy I will never get where I really want to go or need to be for me. Having others along for the ride in my buggy is wonderful and can be enjoyable but the moment I try to put them in the yoke with me it is likely to be only conflict and misery for me.  It is best when Jesus is the lead horse of my buggy with me following in His footsteps, but it is a matter of trust and faith that sometimes I only have enough of for the gentle hand of God to walk along holding the bridle.

      When I get that unsettling feeling I am doing something for the wrong reason or for the wrong person I have to stop (sometimes literally stop pacing) and ask "Who is pulling my buggy?" The pull of the buggy is the "why" motive for what I am doing.   It is the one I am trusting at the moment. Sometimes I am trusting myself and reasoning and/or my fleeting emotions, other times I can be putting my trust in the wrong person and by trusting their opinion more than my own, or God's.  We really only have one life to live and wouldn't it be great to live it to the fullest with joy and adventure.  The great thing about pulling my own buggy is that if I end up making a wrong turn I can turn around and try again and it can mark it up to a learning experience and not blame others since we can’t control others anyway.  The road is going to have pot holes full of trials and the wheels are going to get broken but that doesn't make it impossible to keep going.... it’s sometimes painful and very difficult but worth it to set us free to be ourselves.  No one but you should be pulling your buggy or in other words that are more modern, “You are the only one that can live your life” to the fullest satisfaction.