Sometimes God strengthens us in very humorous ways.
Sometimes He does it in ways that we would never expect. Like the other night....
We have a black cocker spaniel, Tux. He's a good dog, a really good dog. Robert and I had never had a dog all our years of marriage until 3 years ago when I decided it was time. We went to the SPCA and found Tux. Sometimes we wonder why in the world we acquired this little black dog of ours, and sometimes we are very glad that we have him.
Tux spends a lot of time outside, but in the evenings he is inside with us. Even though we have welcomed him into our home, he is not welcome in our bedroom and we do not allow him to sleep in the house unless he is crated. (I do not like waking up to morning surprises!) So in the summer time, and as long as the weather allows, Tux would prefer to sleep on our patio, on his pillow, than inside in his crate.
Well the other night we had a freeze warning, and Tux was forced to bed down in his crate. He went in, reluctantly, I went to bed and thought all was well. It was. Until about 1:30a when I started hearing him rattle his crate door. Rattle, rattle, rattle...silence...good, he's stopped. Ten minutes later, rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle, silence...finally, he's stopped. This went on for hours, really. But I was determined that I was not going to get up and let him out or he would never get readjusted to sleeping in his crate. A miserable night, except for the lesson.
At some point I had the very clear thought, "Don't let his rattling rattle you. Ignore it." And when I said it again in my mind, "Don't let his rattling rattle you," I connected it to another area of my life. I have shared before that during times of grief and the death of someone very close to you, that you are vulnerable to attacks on your faith, doubts arise, and Satan takes advantage of the opportunity to "rattle" you. "Don't let his rattling rattle you." The ancient serpent loves to throw his words of doubt and accusation at us, just as the venomous rattlesnake raises his tail and causes us to hear his rattling, striking fear in us. He uses any opportunity to do this, not just in times of grief. Any time that we are faced with questions or doubts, his "rattling" can distract us from where our focus needs to be....on God and His faithfulness to us as His children.
God promises that He is always with us, that He never leaves us. We know that "the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) We know that God is the ultimate Victor, and that the enemy will be eternally defeated.
I thanked God that He used Tux in the middle of the night to remind me not to allow the rattling of my enemy to rattle my faith in Him. To assure me that He is so faithful to me, that He is ready to strengthen me as I commit my heart wholly to Him.
Strengthen me, Lord Jesus. Strengthen me when I am weak...my heart is yours, but sometimes I feel so weak, so fearful. I need your strength. Let me fully commit my heart to You, nothing held back. Thank You Lord...you have answered my prayer...now strengthen me a bit more, and then a bit more...let my life show a continual increase of my commitment, and of Your strength.
Sometimes He does it in ways that we would never expect. Like the other night....
We have a black cocker spaniel, Tux. He's a good dog, a really good dog. Robert and I had never had a dog all our years of marriage until 3 years ago when I decided it was time. We went to the SPCA and found Tux. Sometimes we wonder why in the world we acquired this little black dog of ours, and sometimes we are very glad that we have him.
Tux spends a lot of time outside, but in the evenings he is inside with us. Even though we have welcomed him into our home, he is not welcome in our bedroom and we do not allow him to sleep in the house unless he is crated. (I do not like waking up to morning surprises!) So in the summer time, and as long as the weather allows, Tux would prefer to sleep on our patio, on his pillow, than inside in his crate.
Well the other night we had a freeze warning, and Tux was forced to bed down in his crate. He went in, reluctantly, I went to bed and thought all was well. It was. Until about 1:30a when I started hearing him rattle his crate door. Rattle, rattle, rattle...silence...good, he's stopped. Ten minutes later, rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle, silence...finally, he's stopped. This went on for hours, really. But I was determined that I was not going to get up and let him out or he would never get readjusted to sleeping in his crate. A miserable night, except for the lesson.
At some point I had the very clear thought, "Don't let his rattling rattle you. Ignore it." And when I said it again in my mind, "Don't let his rattling rattle you," I connected it to another area of my life. I have shared before that during times of grief and the death of someone very close to you, that you are vulnerable to attacks on your faith, doubts arise, and Satan takes advantage of the opportunity to "rattle" you. "Don't let his rattling rattle you." The ancient serpent loves to throw his words of doubt and accusation at us, just as the venomous rattlesnake raises his tail and causes us to hear his rattling, striking fear in us. He uses any opportunity to do this, not just in times of grief. Any time that we are faced with questions or doubts, his "rattling" can distract us from where our focus needs to be....on God and His faithfulness to us as His children.
God promises that He is always with us, that He never leaves us. We know that "the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) We know that God is the ultimate Victor, and that the enemy will be eternally defeated.
I thanked God that He used Tux in the middle of the night to remind me not to allow the rattling of my enemy to rattle my faith in Him. To assure me that He is so faithful to me, that He is ready to strengthen me as I commit my heart wholly to Him.
Strengthen me, Lord Jesus. Strengthen me when I am weak...my heart is yours, but sometimes I feel so weak, so fearful. I need your strength. Let me fully commit my heart to You, nothing held back. Thank You Lord...you have answered my prayer...now strengthen me a bit more, and then a bit more...let my life show a continual increase of my commitment, and of Your strength.
1 comment:
God is constant in our lives. Unfortunately so is Satan. His "rattles" are constantly in our lives, distracting us from the Holy Spirit in our lives. It's a battle of Wills. I try to reach for Christ to win the battles, but Satan puts up a good fight. Recently I have allowed Him to distract me from my quiet time with Jesus. That is "my time" not Satan's yet he interferes. He is an unwelcomed guest that visits me too often. Thankfully God is always present in me even when I am unaware. His love does not falter when my faithfulness does. His eyes are always upon me.
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