Lessons From A Dog

Yesterday on the way home from the office, I heard a pastor use one of the clearest illustrations I have ever heard of the relationship we should desire with our Lord. He shared how he has a dog that clearly sees his wife as "lord" of its life. For example, he shared how the dog will wait for his wife to feed it before it will eat and how it will wait for his wife to let it out before it goes outside. He was relating the attitude of this dog to what our attitude towards God should be - that everything we do should be done because God guides us towards it, not someone or something else. I'm paraphrasing - he said it much more eloquently, but I was already late for dinner and wasn't completely concentrating.

I took this a step further the more I thought about it. What if our desire was to only do that which He asks us to do? What if instead of going out on our own, we waited on God to open the door for us? What if instead of eating junk food to ease our hunger, we waited on the feast that He is preparing for us? What if I were more like Abby (our dog) who will put up with me but jumps and dances around the house when she hears Jill's car pull in the driveway? What if I were to run towards those things God desires for me, the way Abby bounds off the steps and across the yard to greet her "master?"

I often make fun of Abby and the way she follows Jill. I get frustrated when she barks too much. I get irritated with her because she goes outside and rolls in something and smells for days. I laugh at how skittish she can be about anything that startles her. And yet.....somehow it makes sense that I should desire to be that way in my walk. I should follow God even when people make fun of me. I should "bark" the gospel to warn those who are lost of the danger ahead. I shouldn't worry if people are irritated because I don't "smell" the way they think I should smell. And, yes, I should even be skittish about those things that startle me and understand that those feelings are God's warnings to me.

I never thought I could learn so much from a dog! God always surprises us doesn't He?

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

This seems to be the theme lately - from potty training to finiding out our assignment, we are waiting. While not always easy, God is teaching us through this. I think back to college and am reminded of all the times I waited on pins and needles to see if I was going to pass a test or not. I would leave class and give the appearance that I didn't have a care in the world. However, on the inside I was wondering how another "D" would affect my GPA and how much further it would fall. I would sleep restlessly, tossing and turning, until the next day when I could go and check my grade. While I made my share of C's and D's, I would occassionaly be surprised by an A or B.

What is the point of this you ask? Well, during all the stressing about a grade, what I often failed to realize was that the grade wasn't going to change between the time I turned in my test until I saw it posted on my professor's door. Isn't that the way it is with all these "stressful" things in life as well? If we are living in obedience to God, then He has already laid out the path we must walk. I know that Dade will learn to go in the "big potty" and I know that we will find out our assignment with AIM. Sometimes I wonder how much more I could truly enjoy life if I would realize that God has taken care of the big things and the little things.

As I journey through the Bible this year, God has been reminding me that He is a God who takes care of every detail. Just this morning, I was reading how detailed God was with Moses when describing the clothes that Aaron and his son's would wear and exactly how the sacrifices needed to be handled. Isn't it neat to know that we serve a God of details, who cares about each "little" part of our lives?