We've all been there I think. If you're me, when this happens you pretend it doesn't faze you because you saw it on Animal Planet or something. You know, the whole "think tough, it sends out the you're-not-afraid-of-them" vibe. Right? I danno.
As I'm writing this I now see how little I know about dogs. They're not bears, Joey. DO they smell fear, or did I dream that? Anyway, moving right along.
So Michael was telling me how this fairly vicious-looking mut was chasing him and chasing him, even making every effort to bite him, and then out of the blue and for seemingly no reason at all, abruptly stopped and left him alone.
Now, given that I am sometimes dramatic, I almost immediately exclaimed,
“MIKE! THIS IS KIND OF BIBLICAL!!!”
Cue the crickets. I am pretty (re: definitely) sure he thought I was insane in that moment. But my brother thinking I'm dramatic has never really stopped me before. I was inspired and the wheels were turning in my brain, though I wasn't exactly sure why in that moment. So that was all I really had to say about it until I figured it out.
(Other than “I’m so glad you’re okay!”, of course, but ...he's all muscular and fast and whatnot, so I knew he was fine. Related, he's also single and ready to mingle, ladies.)
Later that night, I was reading in the Psalms. I knew that if I wanted to catch myself up in order to stay on track for the schedule I had made myself, I'd have to read two that night. As I was on the second psalm, I came across this passage:
20 Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered Me.
22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
(Psalm 22:20-22, emphasis mine)
It almost made me audibly laugh.
It was a reminder, always needed, that God is there, and His timing is perfect. Sometimes it takes the silly or unexpected things in life to do that, doesn't it?
Thank you God, for showing us Your presence in matters both big and small. That you care for us enough to show us that if you are there in the little quirky things, that you are also surely going to be there for the big, life-altering things. For reminding me of this through something that would grab my attention, like a random dog chase story.
And thank You for allowing me to be a little behind on my Psalms AND for giving me the nerdy spirit to catch up so I would be able to fully appreciate this keen eye for the minutiae that You have in the lives of your children.
After I saw the verse in Psalm 22, I immediately texted it to my brother with a statement about the coolness of God and subsequently passed out and went to bed.
It’s exhausting having my brain sometimes.
Since then, all of this has had me thinking about the vast and incredible ways in which God shows us He’s there with us each day.
I think as a whole, we are a people obsessed with the questions we have that remain unanswered. The tough and incredibly challenging questions of Where is God when it hurts? Why do bad things happen to good people? Where was God when I needed Him most?
The truth is, sometimes there are in fact answers for those questions. And sometimes we won’t experience the satisfaction of those answers this side of eternity.
But something I don’t think we focus on enough is the times we DO see, feel, and touch the very presence of His Divinity in our lives.
For me, I could relay endless instances where I’ve seen God’s hand in my life. How He has spared me from making bad decisions, how my “unanswered prayers” really had answers after all. Lately more than anything else, He is revealing himself to me in His word and my quiet studies with Him. I can't even begin to describe how much what I've been reading and experiencing has intersected and correlated and connected in some way in my life, sometimes even down to the repetition of key words and phrases and numbers coming at me from tons of different and unexpected sources. And I know that it is Him who is speaking, not a happy coincidence. In fact, I don't even think I believe in coincidences when we have the massive and all-knowing God that we do.
One of my biggest prayers for 2015 was that I could hear God speak to me in a way that I truly understood. Why was it one of my biggest prayers? Because it has also been one of my biggest frustrations. For a very long time I have felt a disconnect and a confusion. I wanted so badly to hear God speak, and I was desperately feeling like I was at such a loss. But uglier than that - I felt like I was failing as a Christian because I couldn't seem to hear His voice.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)
The thing about God that we sometimes don't seem to get is, He is a God who desires to pull back the curtain and show us what He has for us. We won't always be privy to all of His plans, but we do know that he doesn't want to have a relationship with His children that is just one-sided. He wants to let us in, He wants to have us come closer. He wants us to have peace in our decisions, and a lamp for our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).
What about you? Have you experienced God’s own hand in your life? If you're doubtful you have, consider the times you were spared from a heartbreak or a major problem. Consider the time a life-giving word was uttered to you just as you needed it, or a strategic hand placed on your back at just the right time. An invitation when your heart felt alone.
God speaks to us in so many ways. It can be through a person, it can be through prayer. It is often through His Word. It can even be an experience, or an opportunity.
But we have to be looking, and attentive. We must make ready our hearts and minds to receive whatever life-giving thing He would like to share with us. And He is so kind that He will help give us these things if we only ask Him to. Take it from me.
So if you're frustrated today, ask the Lord to speak to you in the very many circumstances of your life. Then simply be still in patient and hopeful expectation for all that He is about to do.
You have no idea the glory that awaits you.
(Source)
16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear
(Matthew 13:16)
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27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27)
3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3)
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)
15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15, emphasis mine)
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