Lessons Learned From My Dog
It is my belief that God wants to teach us spiritual lessons through the everyday occurrences in our life. That has been the underlying premise of this blog from its beginning. I believe God can use all kinds of events, whether it is seeing a faded flower in a Volkswagen, a ride on an amusement park attraction or a broken birthday pinata, to drive home spiritual lessons. If He can use all those things then He certainly has no difficulty letting me get a glimpse at the depth of my obstinence through the life of my Westie, Chloe.
This bred of dog is known for their energy and excitement. Because they are easily distracted by changes in their environment, it is recommended that when they are outside a fenced area that a leash be used to prevent them from running after the neighbor's cat or an unsuspecting bird. Over the past 12 years Chloe has mastered many of your typical dog tricks, but still struggles when it comes to taking a walk with her leash.
Dog trainers will tell you the proper way to walk with your dog is with him/her to your side not running ahead of you or dragging behind and having to be pulled. Unfortunately, Chloe has absolutely no interest in the 'proper way' of doing this activity. When we go out for a walk one of two things are bound to happen-she either runs ahead and pulls so hard on the leash that she nearly chokes herself or she stops and sits down on her behind absolutely refusing to move.
I believe that we approach God like this sometimes. He calls us today, just as He called Peter and Andrew, "Come follow me" (Mark 1:17). All to often, instead of being obedient and following, we do just like Chloe on that leash-we either pull ahead or we sit obstinately and refuse to move.
We decide that we are going to be the one leading-we are convinced our path is best determined by us. Our attitude becomes such that we will make our own decisions based on our own wisdom without much consideration for the path our Master desires for us to take. Unfortunately the path we choose is often contrary to His will for us, so we then beg Him to bless the poor choice that we made.
Perhaps just as bad as charting our own course is the decision to not budge when He calls us to follow. When we are uncertain if we are going to like the journey He has for us we often behave just like Chloe and sit down and refuse to move. What an act of disobedience! Too frequently we fear that the path He wants us to take is too difficult or too costly and we just refuse to follow. Two of my very dearest friends told God a while back that they would go wherever He called- whenever He called and do whatever He called them to do. God has since called these faithful friends to plant a church in Colorado. Certainly not what they had in mind but they are following Him and trusting in Him. When God calls us to 'follow' that means that He is leading-He is going ahead of us. We are not alone in our journey when we choose to follow Him.
This bred of dog is known for their energy and excitement. Because they are easily distracted by changes in their environment, it is recommended that when they are outside a fenced area that a leash be used to prevent them from running after the neighbor's cat or an unsuspecting bird. Over the past 12 years Chloe has mastered many of your typical dog tricks, but still struggles when it comes to taking a walk with her leash.
Dog trainers will tell you the proper way to walk with your dog is with him/her to your side not running ahead of you or dragging behind and having to be pulled. Unfortunately, Chloe has absolutely no interest in the 'proper way' of doing this activity. When we go out for a walk one of two things are bound to happen-she either runs ahead and pulls so hard on the leash that she nearly chokes herself or she stops and sits down on her behind absolutely refusing to move.
I believe that we approach God like this sometimes. He calls us today, just as He called Peter and Andrew, "Come follow me" (Mark 1:17). All to often, instead of being obedient and following, we do just like Chloe on that leash-we either pull ahead or we sit obstinately and refuse to move.
We decide that we are going to be the one leading-we are convinced our path is best determined by us. Our attitude becomes such that we will make our own decisions based on our own wisdom without much consideration for the path our Master desires for us to take. Unfortunately the path we choose is often contrary to His will for us, so we then beg Him to bless the poor choice that we made.
Perhaps just as bad as charting our own course is the decision to not budge when He calls us to follow. When we are uncertain if we are going to like the journey He has for us we often behave just like Chloe and sit down and refuse to move. What an act of disobedience! Too frequently we fear that the path He wants us to take is too difficult or too costly and we just refuse to follow. Two of my very dearest friends told God a while back that they would go wherever He called- whenever He called and do whatever He called them to do. God has since called these faithful friends to plant a church in Colorado. Certainly not what they had in mind but they are following Him and trusting in Him. When God calls us to 'follow' that means that He is leading-He is going ahead of us. We are not alone in our journey when we choose to follow Him.
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deut. 31:8Chloe's refusal to walk with me on the leash as she should causes a physical distance between the two of us. In our spiritual lives when we refuse to follow our Master it causes a spiritual distance to develop. This failure to follow is direct disobedience to God. Plain and simple-it is sin. Scripture is clear that our sin separates us from God
"But your iniquities (sins) have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear." Isaiah 59:2We need to keep in step with His leading in our lives because we love Him, but we can rest assured the path on which He will take us is more fulfilling and rewarding than anything that we can imagine. I want the following prayer, found in "The Radical Question" by David Platt, to be my hearts desire. My prayer is that it will be your desire too.
Jesus
Whatever You say, I believe You.
Whatever You do, I trust You.
Wherever You lead, I will follow You.
I devote myself to You above all others.
I give up all my desires and pursuits for Yours.
There is no cost too great for being Your disciple.
I abandon everything that I may come after You.
For You alone are worthy.
Amen
.
Comments
Post a Comment