Out Our Way: Crawling to the Stirrups - Isaiah 30:20-21

Out our way, there is the old saying "Ain't a horse that can't be rode nor a cowboy who can't be throwed." I confess I was never much of a rider and was tossed a lot more often than many, but the folks who really can ride aways assured me that "getting dusted" is part of the process, and that what counts is not how often you were tossed off, but how often you got back on. 

I recall riding one day along a hard-packed logging road in the Bear Paws - and I was enjoying racing along when "Doc" got a "stitch" in his leg and sought to kick it out on the run. Riding Doc at the gallop was something akin to riding a jackhammer, especially as he never could get his leads right for more than a few strides. But add to his general clumsiness a sudden kick out followed by his stumble, and well, you know who was airborne again. It was almost slow motion as I went over his head and I was able to watch him stumble by as I descended for my umpteenth dirt swan dive. Then I hit. And I do mean hit!

That road was like concrete, and there were rocks in it as well. Yes, the breath was knocked out of me, and for a moment I couldn't breath. Then the pain began, for I had sprained my ribs in the fall, and every movement was agony. Slowly, I rolled over and saw Doc calmly grazing a few yards away. I tried to sit up, but had no air, and the effort was painful. So I started to crawl.

Eventually, I got to him and was able to reach the stirrups, and, in great pain, hauled myself erect, managed to step up, lean over and get the reins, and rode Doc slowly back to the truck and trailer, and then eventually got us back to town. And a few days later, with my ribs bandaged and a lot of aspirin, I was back in the saddle again. Granted, I will never be a great rider - probably not even a fair one - but I will continue to be a rider. It's not how often you get tossed off, but how often you get back on. 

The prophet Isaiah clearly understood this, for, in his day, Israel was going down the tubes. The leaders of the nation were largely power-hungry and corrupt elitists who cared only for themselves and not the people. The top religious leaders were just as bad and despite declaring themselves Priests of the Most High, tended to worship self and power above God. And the nation was dying because of it. Those who called out for justice and righteousness, like Isaiah, were scoffed at, ridiculed, persecuted, censored, and sometimes even murdered because they dared to "rock the boat." Yet, as hopeless as it seemed, God told Israel not to quit or lose hope. He told them to "crawl to the stirrups" and crawl back up, for though they were in the dust and hurting, it would not always be so. The word of the Lord spoken through Isaiah and other prophets were like those stirrups. When all seemed hopeless and beyond help, a way was given to get up again. 

In some respects, we live in similar times as Isaiah. Our spirituality is drying up as the worship of wealth, power, fame and control have largely replaced God in our national life. We go from one disaster to another, the powers of Darkness seem to dominate our politics, religion, the media and pop culture. We are a divided people incited into further division by those who, as in Isaiah's time, worship self and power instead of righteousness. Where is God? We have been tossed into the dust and are hurting! Shall we stay down and give up as many are now encouraging us to do? Or shall we crawl to the stirrups and pull ourselves up again? 

In the darkest night of the soul of Israel, God spoke through Isaiah the words of hope: "Your Teacher will hide Himself no longer ... and when you turn to the left or the right, your ears will hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" These words of hope, like those stirrups hanging down from Doc's saddle, offer a way back up. 

We are all suffering a good deal at this time, just as they were in Isaiah's day. Many of us are lying in the dust, the wind knocked out of us and seemingly helpless in our pain. There is no hope, says the Enemy and his allies. Yet the stirrups of hope hang low, and we are encouraged to crawl to them and take hold. Though the Darkness seeks to block out the Light and the shadows grow all about me, I grasp the stirrup and hold to the promise that the darkness cannot overcome the Light. (John 1:5). Though the Enemy screams that no one is allowed to say or think anything but what the Ruler of this earth allows, I grasp the stirrup that reminds me that Another Voice shall be heard, "a voice crying in the wilderness " (Isaiah 40:3), and it shall come to pass that "the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unblocked" (Isaiah 35:5). And that the Enemy, despite all his present power, many servants in high places, and seeming dominion of the world, is doomed and shall be cast out (John 12:31). Crawl to the stirrups and pull yourself up again. We have some riding to do, Pards!

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].