Like most of you know, training a dog is super easy when you have a treat in your hand. Food is a great motivator, not just for dogs, I might add. We brought our German Shepherd home when she was 14 weeks old, and she was not motivated by food like most dogs. She liked her toys, among which a bunch of keys was one of her favorites. She chewed on them regularly. But she was truly fascinated by balls. How is a girl to train a dog that does not like food? I thought I was being a genius and used the lure of playing ball with her. I later learned that this is a common trick dog trainers use. I was not being that original after all.
This is how her first day of training went. I tossed a nice new ball her way, she leaped up, grabbed it from thin air with the dexterity of a gazelle, and ran across the yard with gusto to stash her newfound treasure in the thick bushes lining the yard. She came running back to me promptly, ready for more. I asked her to bring it back. She led me to the bushes, ducked under them, and sat there guarding the ball like a tiny furry dragon protecting her hoard. Do not feel bad for me, this story ends well.
I brought out a whole bucket of balls and started tossing them faster than she could hoard them. She hoarded as many as she could and then started making a pile in the yard, collecting them and staying close to her stash. I threw the balls around the yard so her collection kept moving, and when she realized that the balls always came back to her, she grew more confident. Over the next couple of weeks the bucket of balls got reduced to two balls, then one. Now she will promptly bring me any ball I toss or any she finds, as if to share her loot with me. The move from self-sufficiency to trust was apparent.
This dog loves me and seeks me out constantly, but even she had to learn to trust. She had to observe what I was for her before she could let go of her hoard. It makes me wonder if I am observant enough, and if I trust God enough to share all my treasures with Him.
When we know that God is our provider, being generous toward our fellow human beings comes naturally. When we know God is our healer, we trust that painful situations will end. When we know that God is our strength, we will be courageous in all situations. Every aspect of our lives is covered by God. He is the source of everything good, even when we cannot see it or understand it.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
-Psalm 23:1
Have you ever heard people use “trust me” casually in conversation? As in, “I know it will get better, trust me, I have been through this before.” To the person on the receiving end, those are just words. Most people need evidence. They need to see a track record before they can truly trust.
Why do we have such a hard time trusting God Almighty? Perhaps because we do not see what He has already done for us. Sometimes we miss the most obvious evidence of all. The fact that you are reading this means you woke up this morning with breath in your lungs. No amount of pumping oxygen into a dead person’s lungs will make them breathe. It is God who is the breath of life that permits us to live. So perhaps developing trust starts with observing the small, obvious things. My fingers typing away. My speech. My desire to eat. My desire to do good. All of it is God.
So if I can trust Him to keep me alive and kicking, I can trust Him to place me where I need to be, protect me, and bring me back into His fold every time I stray. I am His sheep and He is my Good Shepherd.
“I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”
-Ezekiel 34:15-16
I pray that you can live as though you will never lack for anything. Share as though the more you give the more you will receive. Love as though there is no tomorrow. And be grateful for every little thing. Because when you trust in God, this will be your reality. God bless you.
Dear God,
I live, breathe, love, and share because of You. Please let me grow in Your love and be loving toward my fellow human beings as You expect. Thank You for every small and big thing You add and subtract from my life with Your providence. May I glorify You now and always. I pray in Your precious name, Jesus. Amen.