Give and Take, Take and Give

If you are a true dog lover, you understand why I have two chocolate labs living INSIDE my house.  There are days where it gets kind of crazy.  We have this room in our house that we can lock the dogs in and Steve has named it "The War Room".  Oh, and boy do these dogs war in there.  Barking, playing, jumping....thankfully that's the room with the Big Lots couch from my single days. 

Tug-of-war is a popular game with the labs.  Nay is small but she can hold her own.  Sometimes she thinks because she's louder she's bigger.  Zeke loves to play, he'll come up to Nay and hold the toy over her and when she reaches for it....snap..his head turns the other way.  For them, it's a game of giving and taking, of taking and giving.

I sure do know how to play that game well!  "Okay God, I give this to you...oh wait I take it back!"  We think if we can control things ourselves that we can fix it but then we have to realize that's just not true.  Our God knows best and does best.  It's not always easy to see Him in all things, you have to look for it.  We have to know what to give to God and what to take from Him.  It's simple really because he takes our burdens and gives us the blessings.  Our part is to surrender to it all.

Thinking

She's staring.  Nay is staring.  I wonder what she is looking for at times.  A few rabbits have been known to grace our yard and a squirrel will sometimes find itself on our deck.  (That particular squirrel is so large it could be a small dog!)  I know occasionally a wind may blow a leaf across the yard and though Zeke will bark at it asking it "how dare you come in our yard!", Nay will see it for what it is, a leaf. 

Nay can sit for hours, staring out the window.  She is most often excited by seeing other dogs and sometimes people.  More than anything she is just content to watch.  I can't help but wonder what is going through her mind?  What is she thinking?

We all have moments of reflection.  It is often the end of the day when we lay our head down to sleep.  We become alone with our thoughts.  We think through our day, our week and at what lies ahead.  Humanly speaking, I am always trying to figure out, for myself, how to fix things. My thoughts stumble over one another as I reason my way through my life.  Reasoning with why things happen, what God is teaching me, what is my role, what is my action, why in this place, what is His plan?   

I have been deeply intrigued by the fact that God thinks.  I think of how my own thoughts dart in so many directions and I wonder how God's thoughts are laid out. Just to think that God "thinks" amazes me.  That God ponders and thinks of me.  To imagine how His thoughts, a divine and righteous God, are laid out. Isaiah 55:8 He says "For my thoughts are not your thoughts."  Isaiah 55:9 he says "my ways [are] higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." 

Through this truth we can find comfort.  We can allow our own thoughts to rest in that God is acting for us. 

Needy Me Pt. 2

So I took it upon myself to commune.  I have a 50 minute drive to work and today I turned off the radio and tried to clear my mind of all but God.  I found myself mentally complaining, worrying and then redirecting my thoughts back to the simplicity of a sovereign God.  Not too much time would pass and I would find myself distracted by traffic, trees, and yes, even roadkill.  So, once again, like a distracted child...I redirected my thoughts to God.  I was talking to God about things.

Do you know when it became simple to keep my thoughts on God?  When I looked at the flowers (that some call weeds) on the side of the road and I saw God in it, and I thanked Him for it.  When I noticed the temperature was just right for the morning, and I saw God in it, and I thanked Him for it.  Suddenly the things that bog us down each day...chores, bills, time....did not seem so important anymore.

Today I think of those who found out their child has cancer.  Today I think of those who found out their home is being taken away.  Today I think of God, who sustains, supplies, supports, and stands with His children.  And so I talk to Him.  I don't want to think of those who have it "worse" to make myself feel better, instead I now have to redirect my thoughts to think of those things I do have in my life to be grateful for.  Communing with God isn't just about asking....it is about thanking, praising and rejoicing in who He is and who He can make me be.

Needy me.  Like Zeke I depend on One to feed and provide for me.  I depend on One to love me.  I must find myself loving Him, knowing Him, seeking Him, talking to Him....I must find myself communing at His throne.

Needy Me

My dogs rarely "cuddle" with each other.  Frankly, Nay just isn't interested. I  think in this picture she was too tired to move.  Zeke loves to cuddle and I believe if Nay would allow it they'd cuddle all the time.

Zeke needs A LOT of quality time.  He is needy.  That's why he always makes the blog stories.  Nay is a very laid back dog, and aside from her storm phobia and stubbornness she's the picture of a perfect dog.  I love her to pieces.  I do find though that Zeke needs lots of attention.  He cuddles me, lays at my feet, lays at the door I have closed, waits for me...he wants to be with me.

Recently I've been thinking about the time I spend with God.  I am so needy like Zeke, but I don't seek the attention I need.  I don't lay at God's feet, I don't cry out to Him, I don't seek after Him.  Sure, I mediate on His Word and His Promises, I worship Him...but do i talk to Him?  Not just the prayer said at the dinner table, or the prayer said after a long stressful discussion, or the prayer said in the church pew....but the prayer that you have, when all the world is quiet and you talk and commune with God.

I'm not talking that methodological prayer where you say all the "cliche" things people say.  You know..."if it be Your will", "please be with", "Lord I need", "thank you for what you've done"....now don't get me wrong, these are all good things and proper things....but what happened to good old-fashioned speaking your heart.  "God, you know how I hurt and worry and I know you say these promises but I don't understand."  Why do I make things up as if God doesn't know my heart already? Doesn't know my doubts already?  Doesn't know what I need already?

And, why oh why, do I not beg and ask God for blessing?  Why don't I lay in wait for Him. It's like I walk up to the throne of Grace, say what needs to be said, and walk away.  Why don't I lay at His feet?  Why don't I lay at His door? 

And so I leave this post with a challenge to the Christian.  Commune.  Share.  Cry.  He is waiting for you.  Get away from your "standard prayer" and really talk and share with God your heart.  After all, what's the point of knowing you are in a storm and that God will make you get through it...if you never even talk to the Master of the sea?

Talking to God isn't reserved for the difficult days, it is for the "every day".  Asking for blessing isn't just for when times are tough, it is for when times are good.  Commune.