Today I learned some spiritual lessons from my dog. That is not unusual, but I wanted to write it down this time. I have been thinking about starting the blog again and this seemed a good way to do it.
We (my wife and I) have a little "dorky dog". He is a cross between a yorkie and dachshund. The long low body of the dachshund, but the color and hair, especially around the face, of a yorkie. When he goes outside to do his business, he usually comes in with a few leaves or "stick-tights" in his fur.
Today he was full of the stick-tights. Removing them involved a lot more pulling than usual since there were so many. As careful as we try to be, I know it was hard on him. By the time we were done he was opening his mouth as if to say: "I am going to have to bite you pretty soon if you don't stop." Of course we were not being mean, we love him. We were just doing what needed to be done to help him.
I thought about God and how He treats us. He loves us and never needlessly hurts us. But we have all this sin in us and attached to us. Because our Heavenly Father loves us He has to do whatever it takes to remove that sin. It will kill us and cause eternal separation if it isn't removed.
However, removing sin is a very painful process. It was infinitely painful to God. We will never fully know how much He suffered. And of course it is painful to us. That is the part we focus on. We think our loving Father is being mean and we just cannot understand why we are being "mistreated". You know the routine: "how can a loving God...?" or "why did this happen?"
Now God could try to explain, and He has in His word. But just as when I tell Porter (the name our dog had when we adopted him) what we are doing and why, he can never fully understand. He understands a few words here and there, but his focus is on himself and what he is feeling. He can't understand me.
So it is with us. We understand a few words here and there. We can't comprehend what God is doing and all the ramifications involved. We are focused on ourselves and usually cannot see the bigger picture.
However, there are some differences. But that will wait till next time.
