Excerpts
Dogs cannot fake trust. They either accept your authority or they don’t. They have no concept of political correctness, and they have no interest in making believe that they trust you when they don’t. You know where you stand with them. Humans, on the other hand, are very capable of putting on the show. We can follow the right steps and fit in very well. But God sees the heart. He is not fooled by hollow acts of submission. We must begin by accepting his leadership, his power, and his majesty. Then we must trust that power enough to believe that God is capable of blessing our lives under any circumstance.
Some of the issues that we face in life are not wrong, sinful, or even harmful. God does not take things away from us simply to be harsh. He does not say no to our requests just to prove that he is bigger than we are. Certainly, there are times when God knows more than we do. He sees the future, and he knows what will bring us harm. Our God loves us enough to say no to our requests. He says “leave it” when we get too close to things that would draw us away from our relationship with him. However, there are times when God says, “leave it” because we need to make a decision. Do we want our relationship with Jesus more than we want the desire that has taken its place in our heart?
There are no good reasons for wandering away from the Lord, but we try to justify them nevertheless. Yet from time to time, our focus is drawn away from the Lord. The Bible identifies these distractions as stumbling blocks. The adversary knows our weaknesses and works to exploit them at every turn. Perhaps this is why the Apostle Paul confessed that he needed to die daily to himself, that he may be alive to Christ. It is so easy to take our eyes off of the prize, but with each wandering, Christ promises a “way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13). To those who are trying to justify their wandering Jesus says, “Come.”
How do you react when you know that a blessing is yours, yet God is clearly saying, “Wait”? Can you trust the Lord even though the prayer is not answered yet? Maybe the job has not been offered, your soul mate hasn’t arrived yet, or your children have not yet come to the Lord. God’s promises are yours, but it is clear that you must wait. Do you begin to question your trust in God’s plan? Do you find subtle ways of taking back control of your life so that you can make things happen on your time? Does the fact that you must wait tempt you to engage in behavior that does not bring glory to the Lord? Answering these three questions honestly can be very convicting.
The great thing about working with dogs is that they can change. Patterns can be broken quickly when we change our expectations and energy. If your dog does not stay, then start over. Teach them again, and this time, expect them to follow your direction by projecting that energy to the dog. An old dog can learn new tricks.
The same is true with us. We may have disregarded the commands of Jesus and strayed from our knowledge of him. There may be sin and guilt that is blocking us, leaving us feeling as though he could not possibly forgive us. What is true for our dogs is also true for us. Our hearts can change as our faithful obedience changes.
God never intended for us to experience our faith in a vacuum. He did not ask us to stand alone. In fact, the opposite is true. He makes us a part of his pack, the church. Within the church, God has provided other believers who stand beside us, support us, protect us, and cause us to grow in our relationship with Jesus. The church allows us to have a presence in our community, our country, and around the globe. Alone, we would draw little attention, but together we can change the world.
