|
|
|
||||||||
|
ANGELS ON CLIFF TRAIL
For HE will give HIS angels charge concerning you, to guard you
in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, lest you
strike you foot against a stone.
Psalm 91:11,12
Before this miraculous event, this verse had been associated with Jesus’ temptation in Matthew 4:6 I know the Lord protects me too, and that His angels are around each of us. Like the time I took Nestor and Pilar to a horse show at the Santa Fe Horsemen’s Association showgrounds on a Saturday, and the next day to the Rio Arriba Show Grounds south of Espanola……….. when I arrived at the showgrounds early Sunday morning, I was somehow distracted while hitching the trailer to the truck and failed to lock the hitch onto the ball. Off I went to down the road, 25 miles at 55-60 mph., bumps and curves all the way. It was only after I turned onto the dirt road leading to the fair grounds, traveling about 5 mph., that the trailer came off the truck, broke the safety chain, and very gently rolled into the ditch beside the road. The horses were not injured, I was able to get them out without an incident, re-hitch the trailer and continue on my way…….. the Lord’s Heaviest Angels were riding on the hitch that day!!!!!!!!!!!! I do NOT think about ‘’what a wreck that could have been,’’ but rather Praise Him for what He made happen!!!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…late July. I left with friends visiting from Colorado for a moonlight supper ride. A perfect night, calm and warm and oh, so lovely!!!!!!! I was bringing up the rear on one of my 3 yr. old fillies, Awaj, who had always been very reliable, and a brave trail horse. She was born on the ranch, and had roamed everywhere since her earliest days, showing few signs of fear. She had been over Cliff Trail many times, never a fuss. But tonight, as we began the descent, she decided to turn around and head for home (tho now, as I reflect back, I know the Lord wanted to give my friends a taste of His miraculous goodness, and me a tangible testimony --- yet another, that is!!! --- of His love and grace. Sort of a Heavenly Hug from my Heavenly Daddy!!!!)
The trail is barely the width of the horses’ feet, with large boulders going down to the bottom of the hill; and to add to the treachery, a barbed wire fence running along the side. As Awaj tried to turn around she stumbled, and her 900 lbs began to fall to the right, heading upside down toward the boulders and the barbed wire. Centrifugal force and gravity were taking me over the edge with her, as I was securely seated in my Australian Stock saddle. The next thing I knew, my angel friend had grabbed my left hand and I found myself standing at the top of the trail, watching Awaj hit a big boulder, scrape along the fence, and land at the bottom of the hill. It happened so fast that all I could do was say ‘’Praise You Lord Jesus!!! Thank You Father!!! Hallelujah!!!’’ it is true --- HE dwells in the praises of His people!!! (Psalm 22:3, 50:23). And the horse-angels responded --- my same Sumo friends??? It was as if reality (as I comprehended it) weren’t a factor at all; a total suspension of all the laws of nature --- time, gravity, placement in space. It happened in far less than the blink of an eye; it happened in no time at all!!! It happened in GOD’s time!!
I was falling over that cliff, securely attached to the horse --- and then I was at the top of the hill watching the horse fall over the cliff, with no visible rider……those angels also made the filly’s legs go the opposite direction from the fence, avoiding a bad entanglement, and helped her get up to trot over to her mother, being ridden my by friend who’s mouth was open in awe, amazed at what he had just witnessed!! Awaj had long rows of bloody wire cuts across the top of her loin, but after a few minutes the bleeding stopped. My saddle had boulder-bruises on the cantle, and deep wire gashes on the cantle and seat. Praise GOD that is was tough, high quality leather and not fragile human skin and bones that took the abuse!!! And praise GOD that my filly was fine too!!!!!!! Now each time I step into my saddle I have a little reminder of the way the Lord can work in our every day lives. And the filly, too, will have a permanent ‘’brand’’ of His Amazing Grace………….
We continued on our beautiful ride, bathed in the Lord’s Glorious moonlight, drinking up the serenity of the night. Only after we got back to the barn (and for many days thereafter) did I cry and cry, shaken by the thought of the Lord’s great mercy and love for me, and the way He saved my life in the most frightening horse accident of my 36 years of riding…….. even the next morning, when I phoned Dan Rosecrans at KFLQ radio to declare His miracle to others, my words were choked with tears and emotion and I could hardly tell the story…………
His love and protection are for each of us, as we come to Him in faith --- He does keep His promises!!! Psalm 91 didn’t really jump out at me until last week as I read my Daily Walk Bible. The weekly worship was Psalm 91 in the Living Bible translation: ‘’for He orders His angels to protect you wherever you go. They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rock on the trail.’’
Annie Whitney
Sept. 7, 1988
Cerrillos, NM
annieokl@aol.com
|
||||
|
|
||||
| page created with Easy Designer |