From the Home Place

January 13, 2026

It’s 4 a.m. with 34 degrees outside, headed for 54. The weather man is saying, “Very windy, rather cloudy with a little rain.” It sounds like a great day to work on Sunday School lesson and sermon.

Yesterday, we talked how Frank responded to pressure in a negative way. All horses, and all people, respond to pressure in one of two ways. Today, let’s look at pressure from a positive standpoint. We have probably all watched Amy on “Heartland,” chase a horse around a round pen, using the tail end of a nylon rope to apply pressure on a horse. She will allow the horse to run around and around until it begins to tire of the process, usually indicated by the horse licking its lips and dropping their head.

At that point, pressure is released by turning one’s back to the horse and walking away from them. If the horse is ready to step toward pressure, the horse will follow the person and “join up.” connecting through the release of pressure. If the horse isn’t quite there, more pressure, until the horse decides that being near their human is better than running away from their human.

The same is true with people who are being asked to “join up” with God. At first most all people will run away from the pressure the Holy Spirit exerts upon them through pressure situations. The Apostle Paul speaks of such situations in Romans 5:3-5, “And not only this, but we exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Here, the word “tribulation” is how the Holy Spirit lovingly applies pressure to a person’s life, so that said person will choose to “join up” and work with the Holy Spirit to become all that God created that person for.

You see, when a horse trainer pressures a horse in a round pen, the trainer is not intending to be mean to the horse, they are simply wanting the horse to connect with the trainer so that the trainer can help the horse become all that they were created to be. Please note, proper training is always based upon a relationship. The same is true with the military, sports, horses and a person’s spiritual journey.

For sure, a Drill Sargent may not be a recruit’s best friend, but it all works better when the solder understands his/her role in the relationship. Once again, the same is true in sports with the relationship between coach and athlete. And again true when a person is first learning to walk with God. In each of these situations, there must be a relationship, based upon respect. Respect does not mean that there is mutual closeness between Drill Sargent, nor between the coach and the athlete, but there does need to be an understanding that one is in authority over the other, and the sooner they learn to work together, the better.

In a similar fashion, the sooner that a Christian allows God to have authority over their life, the better for the Christian. God is by no means a dictator, for His relationship with a person is based upon love; “because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts.”(Rms. 5:5) Fact, God first loves us so that we will learn to love Him, thus developing a loving relationship flowing out of proper respect.

Like it or not, God is the absolute authority over every human life. The sooner a person learns to yield to God’s authority, the sooner a stronger relationship will develop. I fear we have for too long portrayed God only as a person’s “best friend,” without teaching a healthy respect for His authority. That is why Romans 5:5 mentions that God pours His love into our hearts “through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Note, we usually think only of the Holy Spirit as our “Helper.” Someone who is in my life just for my benefit.

However, a biblical understanding of the working of the Holy Spirit is that He exists to help me learn how to live under the authority of God. Which in turn, makes my life much more pleasurable. However, if I’m not learning a biblical lesson that the Holy Spirit wants me to learn, He takes me to the round pen and chases me around with the tail end of a nylon rope called pressure.

The sooner I yield to His authority, the sooner He can teach me what I need to learn to become all that God created me for! In a loving relationship, both the horse and the trainer, both the Holy Spirit and the Christian, get a great blessing by working together.

But just the moment a Christian refuses to grow, the Holy Spirit has an amazing way of applying pressure through “tribulations.”

So, may we each learn from the horse and trainer, the moment we begin to lick our lips(submit) and walk toward the Trainer, the sooner He can begin to “train” us up “in the way” we should go – sound familiar? Read Proverbs 22:6.

Joining up with God with you, Neal