I’ve been excited to write this blog post for a while for two main reasons: it gives me an opportunity to speak about some interesting ways I’ve been learning about God lately, and it gives me an excuse to talk about my dog.
As those of you who know me personally have learned, my family got a dog back in December, and she has quickly become my favorite ever. Her name is Clarabelle, and she is an Aussiedoodle puppy. She’s grown up so much since we first got her, but here is my favorite picture of her that was taken just a few days after she came to live with us.
I know, adorable, right? Clarabelle is so playful, energetic, and sweet, and I thank God everyday for bringing her to us.
While taking her outside one day (and struggling with her choosing to eat bark instead of listening to me), I realized that the relationship between a good dog owner and their puppy is very similar to the relationship between God and us. This may sound like a stretch, but I saw a lot of similarities between how I see my dog and how God sees us. So today, I want to highlight the four main ways that my dog has taught me about God, in the hopes that we can learn more about God’s character and how deep His love for us is.
God knows what is best for us, and we often don’t
When my family got Clarabelle, she wasn’t even two months old yet, so there was still so much about the world that she didn’t understand. For example, she doesn’t know that streets are filled with fast-moving cars, eating too much food will make you sick, and that glass doors don’t mean you can run through them (she learned that last one the hard way). She was brought into a brand new area, and did not know what was good for her and what would be bad for her. So pretty early on, we had to discipline her and hold her back from doing certain things, so that she would learn what not to do.
Similarly, in this life, we often don’t understand what the consequences of our actions can be, especially if we aren’t spending time in the Bible to learn what God says we should and shouldn’t do. However, God is all-knowing, and definitely knows what he’s talking about. For me personally, I don’t have too much life experience, because I am still young, so I often try to make decisions and do things that end up leaving me broken, lonely, and sometimes even hopeless. This is because I don’t know what is best for me and for the kingdom of God. In these moments, God teaches me what is right and wrong, and sometimes it comes in the form of discipline.
The thing with discipline is that it is the practice of training yourself to do something a certain way that will benefit your future, instead of gratifying immediate pleasures and wants. It is something that parents do for their children, owners do to their pets, and God does to us. Discipline is necessary for correction and growth, and it is a way that people show love for those that they care about. When we are disciplined by God, it is because He knows that there are practices and habits being built in our lives that keep us from sin and what is wrong, and what will best serve us in the future of our ministry.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths…My son, do not despise the Lord’s disciplines or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:5-6,11-12).
In the same way that I have to discipline my dog to show her what is right and wrong, the disciplines that God puts in our life are to show us what we should and should not be doing, and are a way of protecting us from things He knows will be harmful to us in the future.
Obedience isn’t always fun, but it’s right
Any time I take Clarabelle on a walk, she is distracted by anything that she sees. In fact, the only way we can go on a distraction-free walk is when there is no grass, no leaves, no sticks, no cars, no people, no birds, no wind, no dogs, and no moss. So yeah, going on a walk is always a challenge for this puppy. For her, she is just so excited by all there is to see and smell. The world just seems so big and exciting to her, but I have to be the one to hold her back from things that I know aren’t good for her. If she begins to run into the street to chase a bird (happens more often than you’d think), I have no choice but to pull her back quickly before a car gets too close. When I do, I get the saddest little puppy eyes from Clarabelle that make me feel absolutely horrible, but I have to remember that I can’t let her do whatever she wants, and that what seems fun isn’t necessarily what should be done.
This is how God reacts to us when we are blinded by the things that the world has to offer. There are temptations all around us everywhere you go, and it can be easy to want to run to something because it looks like fun, or because it intrigues us. As Christians, we have the knowledge of what is from God and what is the devil trying to pull us back to our old ways. Even though being obedient to what the Word says isn’t going to lead to the most short-term “fun”, it is what we know is right, and this is why we must obey what the Bible commands us. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:14-16).
Partial obedience is not obedience
While on the topic of obedience, it is important to note that being partially obedient is not the same thing as being obedient. When I tell Clarabelle to come to me after she runs to the other side of the road, it is not obedient of her to walk halfway and then stay there. I told her to come to me so that she could be safe from incoming traffic, and her only obeying partly did not put her in a safe positio. We do this with God a lot: listen to parts of what we are told to do, but hold back things that we desire and withhold some obedience from Him.
The best example that I can think of in the Bible to display partial obedience is in Genesis 12-13, when the Lord commands Abraham (who was then known as Abram) to “go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:1-2). Abram then gets up as God commanded him and goes, but he takes Lot, his nephew, with him; this part is key. It didn’t matter in the moment that Abram had obeyed most of what God had told him, because he still disobeyed by bringing a member of his family with him. This proves to be a cause of much difficulty later on, because during the trip, they realize that between Abram and Lot’s flocks, herds, and tents, there was not enough space in the land they were at to let them be together. The result of this was a separation between the two, where Lot journeyed near the cities of the valley, while Abram settled in the land of Canaan.
I encourage you to read more about this story here and do some deep-diving of your own, but I want one of your main takeaways from this passage to be that partial obedience does not solve anything. Abram could have avoided a lot of future loss and discomfort if he had chosen to fully obey what the Lord told him to do in the first place. In the same way, we cannot allow our own desires, wants, and beliefs to get in the way of our full, unwavering obedience to God.
God sees things that we don’t
I find this last part to be a big comfort to me. When I have to stop Clarabelle from doing something, or make her do something that she doesn’t want to do, she often doesn’t understand why, but I do. I can see an outside circumstance happening that could affect her, and in that moment, I need her to obey me and trust that I know how to keep her safe.
Guess what? God does that too! Often in life, we are only aware of our own actions, thoughts, and words, but God is all-knowing and omnipresent. He sees everything and everyone, which can be comforting or unnerving, depending on whether or not you have a good relationship with the Father. I personally find it to be very comforting, because it shows me that I am never truly alone, and that God sees all the moments that I feel weak and lonely.
Because of God’s divine nature and unique character, there is no knowledge hidden from Him. As Psalm 147:5 says, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” This means that God sees people, situations, and conversations that you won’t see. I believe that this is purposeful: God doesn’t need you to see these things (mostly because they will cause a lot of unnecessary hurt in your life), but instead asks you to trust that He knows what He is doing. The book of Romans puts it like this: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33). Even if you can’t see why He is telling you to do something, do it, because chances are good that there is a lot going on that you don’t know, and probably will never know. God sees the actions and thoughts of everyone, so allow Him to direct your moves, regardless of how you feel.
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Well, I hope this was an enjoyable post for you all, and that you enjoyed hearing about my dog as much as I love talking about her. Let this serve as encouragement for you for the next few weeks as you allow God to direct your every move of every day. As always, please never hesitate to get active with Authentic Faith, and to reach out to me for any comments, questions, or ideas you may have! Thank you all for your continued support, and I look forward to all of you guys coming back in two more weeks to see what God leads me to write next.
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