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Unexpected Pleasures

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You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11

My life changed dramatically a week ago. Our family brought home an eight-week-old miniature Aussie puppy.

We already had a seven-year-old Australian Shepherd that we adore. Now Annie has a tumbling ball of fur named Jack for a playmate—whether she wants one or not.

At first she appeared less than enthusiastic about his arrival. He would snuggle into her for a nap, and she would abruptly move to another part of the room.

Now Annie has discovered what many of us do when we’re willing to open our hearts to unwanted interruptions in our comfortable lives. In God’s hands, things we once viewed as intolerable inconveniences have the potential to become our greatest blessings.

The two have become inseparable. Change can really be good.

Our house has become decidedly less quiet since Jack’s arrival, mostly due to all the laughter. He continually entertains us, enthralling us with his puppy antics. I wonder if Jack realizes how funny he is. He has single-handedly redefined the word “adorable.” I think Webster should put his picture in the dictionary.

He may be cute, but he’s only still when he’s sleeping. He loves to explore, leap and pounce on anything that moves, or anything that doesn’t move, for that matter. Nothing is off limits to his paws or his curious little mouth. At least, he doesn’t believe it should be.

That’s where I come in. Someone needs to give Jack direction to save him from himself.

Left on his own, Jack would have already choked on mulch and various small stones, broken some bones leaping from surfaces that are much too high, electrocuted himself chewing through my computer charging cord, and possibly drowned in our pool. Not to mention the many times I’ve rescued him from Annie when he insisted on taking her favorite toy.

Yes, limits and direction provide safety. That’s why our loving heavenly Father provides them.

. . . what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?  Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Did you catch that last part? God has provided commands and decrees for your own good.

With the same tender love that leads me to set boundaries for Jack, God has established boundaries for you and me. His limits don’t take from us or cause us harm. No, God has outlined limits to keep us safe.

We just don’t always see it that way. Jack doesn’t either.

For instance, he wasn’t fond of his crate when he first came home with us. He had enjoyed bounding around the house all day and did not agree with our decision to place him in a crate to sleep that night. He hardly noticed the nice, soft bed for him to snuggle into or his toys to keep him entertained. His eyes focused on the bars keeping him from “possibility.”

So he whined. And I wondered why we ever decided to get a puppy.

A funny thing happened on the second night. My husband lay down on the floor next to Jack’s crate after he put him in, and Jack discovered something. He didn’t really want the intriguing things that called to him from beyond the bars. What he had really been after was companionship. He snuggled into the corner of his crate nearest Steve, lay down his tiny head, and fell asleep in about a minute.

The joy Jack found in my husband’s nearness outweighed the lure of what enticed him from beyond the boundaries we had set for him. Perhaps if we learned to enjoy God’s nearness a bit more we wouldn’t grumble so much over His restrictions. After all, they help keep us in a prime position to experience Him fully.

Jack has now discovered the crate isn’t really the enemy he thought it was. It offers something that he doesn’t have when he’s outside its boundaries. Security. He doesn’t need to worry about every little sound or movement; he’s safe inside. Last night when I put him to bed, he didn’t even wine. He drifted off in peaceful sleep and slept for seven straight hours.

Isn’t it funny how things we think we’ll hate can end up being our favorites? Something we fear can become our security. Something we view as a nuisance can turn into our comfort and joy.

Perhaps we should open up our hearts to trust God for His best. Our emotions tend to lead us astray anyway. Just ask Annie and Jack. Their renewed thinking opened them up to tremendous blessing.

Yours will too.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2

Sounds like a good plan to me.

The Still, Small Voice

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“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”  John 10:27, NIV

Last Friday morning, my eyelids fluttered open to discover that it was still dark. Ordinarily I wouldn’t be thrilled by that observation, but I felt the Lord whispering to my heart, “Meet me for the sunrise.”

Anticipation stirred my soul, and I carefully slid from the bed to avoid waking my husband. This was the moment I’d been waiting for.

It was the last day of our family vacation in Hatteras, NC, and I had been seeking an answer for an important decision looming ahead of me in ministry. I felt fairly confident I had heard from the Lord, but I had asked Him for confirmation. I eagerly dressed to head to the beach, expecting He was about to give it.

My husband’s voice interrupted my thoughts, “Are you going out to watch the sunrise?”

“I’m going to meet with the Lord,” I answered.

“Do you mind if I join you?”

I hesitated. Truth be told, I did mind.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my husband. Most of the time I’d rather be with him than any other person on the face of the earth. But I wasn’t heading out to enjoy the romantic notion of the sunrise. I had an altogether different plan in mind. I needed to hear from God. And quite frankly, my husband’s presence there didn’t fit my view of what that moment was supposed to look like. I thought he’d be—well, a distraction.

So I wanted to tell him to go back to sleep. But that familiar stirring reminded me that I should put his desires ahead of my own. Instead I answered, “sure.”

He dressed quickly and we slipped together out the sliding door. Grabbing two beach chairs, we headed through the sand to the shore.

For several minutes we sat in companionable silence staring out at the sea. Both of us had brought headphones, and I decided that listening to worship might help me open my heart and clear my mind. I tried not to notice that my husband had placed his chair in a way that blocked my view of the beach. I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t see him fidgeting with his iPad.

Then he turned his head to smile at me and reached out his hand for mine.

Again, I hesitated, and the Lord spoke. “You are stronger together.”

I took my husband’s outstretched hand, offering silent prayer to the Lord. I confessed my selfishness and asked His forgiveness, thanking Him for the many gifts I had in my husband. Peace began to flood my soul as I realized that Jesus wanted me to share our intimate fellowship with my husband. Christ had something to reveal to us together that wouldn’t be realized apart.

Hand in hand, listening to the sounds of the sea, we prayed together. I can’t recall all that was said. I simply remember the sweet encounter with Jesus we shared, and the feel of warm tears slowly descending down my cheeks.

Afterward we sat in silence again, watching the waves crash the beach. Without even looking at me, my husband spoke. “We’re supposed to go with Larry.”

It was the answer to the question I had asked my Shepherd to clarify. I had prayed specifically that His Spirit would reveal the path to each of us, that we both would hear the same divine message and our agreement would reveal Him in the midst of it. My husband’s words were the confirmation I had sought.

God did give me the answer I longed for that morning, not in spite of my husband’s presence there, but through it. How thankful I am that I listened to the stirring of His gentle Spirit instead of the loud roar of my flesh. Now I didn’t just have a Word from the Lord. I had a witness. Oh how I love His faithfulness!

You might be interested to know what initiated my divine appointment with God on the beach that day. My husband shared with me that he had trouble getting to sleep the night before. As he finally drifted off, he made a last request of the Lord. He asked God to wake him for the sunrise.

Kind of gives a new perspective on the term “helpmate,” doesn’t it? My husband asked to see the sunrise so the Lord woke his wife. I asked for direction, and the Lord gave it through my husband.

“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  Matthew 19:6

God’s ways are always higher, always better. Imagine if we learned to walk in tune with the still, small voice, surrendering selfishness moment by moment in exchange for His gentle instruction. I think we’d discover an abundance of sweet blessings.

I’m game. Are you?