A Stunning Performance

Beautiful. Majestic. Powerful. Magnificent. Words used to describe the horse. Graceful and still one moment. Wild and full of motion the next. I’ve always been intrigued by horses and gained a new appreciation for this incredible animal this past weekend. We were privileged to attend a performance of Cavalia on Saturday.

Our program guide gave us a glimpse of how this amazing show came into being: “About 10 years ago, Normand Latourelle was working on a production in Quebec, and noticed the spectators’ fascination for horses. This is when the idea of creating a show in which horses could express themselves on stage in all their beauty, their nobleness, their agility and their power, was born.”

The interplay between trainer and horses, acrobats and trick riders, musicians and vocalist, left me with just one word to describe the show: Spectacular. One of my favorite acts involved the horse trainer and seven or eight Arabians together on the stage. Although she was definitely outnumbered, the trainer was certainly in control of the entire performance. I was truly impressed by the talented trainer and knew she was deserving of the applause that filled the arena.

It was fascinating to read about this breed of horse, “Renowned for his high intelligence, the Arabian is the oldest breed of saddle horse…It is difficult to win the Arabian’s trust, but once you have done so, he will do anything to please.” Obviously, the trainer had poured countless hours into getting to know and train these horses, and they had learned that she could be trusted and were willing to obey her every command. As they moved together, prancing this way and that, their fluid motion emphasized the fact that they were performing in harmony. What a beautiful picture!

As I thought back on the inspiring evening, I couldn’t help but draw a parallel. We have a Heavenly ‘Trainer’ who loves each one of us and is interested in gaining our trust so that we will obey His commands. Commands that will protect us and allow us to live productive lives. When each one of us obeys our Trainer, we find ourselves moving together in unity. Psalm 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (KJV)!

Where there is unity, the spotlight is taken off of the individual and placed on the Trainer. After all, unity is a pretty miraculous accomplishment. Only the Spirit of God could be responsible for a selfless attitude. Only He can produce an attitude like the one reflected in Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

When we choose to submit to our Trainer, others take notice. We operate as the ‘body’ God created us to be: unified, without division. Are you willing to set aside ‘self’ in order to work with the ‘body’ to point others to our magnificent Trainer? Together, our stunning performance will cause others to look beyond us to the One who is truly worthy of all of our praise – the Lord Jesus Christ. Let this be your prayer today!