Mamie Invents a New Game

Mamie the Apprentice Wonder Puppy is a five pound Shih Tzu who just celebrated her first birthday. She is still a puppy, especially in the playing department. Her big sister, Maggie the Wonder Dog is six years old and not always in the mood to play. Maggie is very glamorous and playing is done on her terms or not at all. 

One of Mamie's favorite games is called "Maggie Tap". Mamie likes to tap Maggie with her paw to see what Maggie will do. Mamie can tap Maggie at least a dozen times before Maggie gets fed up and growls. I'm pretty sure Mamie is trying for a new record, so the tapping and growling lasts for a significant portion of every day. Maggie is more patient than I would be, but probably she's just grateful to have a break from Mamie's incessant "kissing" (licking). 

Recently, Mamie invented a new game. Maggie was yawning and Mamie clearly thought, "Why not?" She stuck her paw in Maggie's mouth and pulled it out successfully. Immediately, the race was on! Mamie would stick her paw in Maggie's mouth and try to pull it out before Maggie could close on her. Truthfully, Mamie is unbelievably good at this and incredibly fast. Of course, Big Sister Maggie is far more patient than three humans combined would be, and kindly refrains from biting her foot off.  

This morning, the Wonder Dogs had joined me on my bed for quiet time. Maggie is a well-trained Wonder Dog and understands when to be still and quiet. Mamie is still an Apprentice Wonder Puppy, mostly because she is wide open all the time and is very seldom still and quiet. Mamie decided to play the "Maggie Mouth" game, even though Maggie's mouth was firmly closed. Mamie would pat Maggie's mouth until Maggie finally opened it, then pop her paw inside Maggie's mouth and pull it out before she could close her mouth. (The fact that Mamie still has four paws is due to the magnificent patience of Maggie the Wonder Dog.) 

As you might imagine, Maggie soon had enough, and started to give a little warning growl. Mamie never heeds warning growls, however, so she kept right on tapping Maggie's mouth, popping her paw in, and pulling it out. The warning growls got a little louder. Mamie never slowed down. I gave her a stern warning and moved her, but she was quickly right back in Maggie's face. Finally, Maggie snapped at her. In Maggie's defense, she let Mamie get her paw out before she snapped, so she didn't even nip her. Mamie was shocked! How dare her sister try to bite her!?! The most surprising thing happened next. Mamie stuck her paw right back in Maggie's mouth, daring her to bite the paw. 

Mamie's behavior is so much like our own that I laughed out loud before I moved her off the bed to preserve Maggie's sanity. Watching her do something that is clearly not wise and will be dangerous to her paw if she doesn't slow it down reminds me so much of some of my own decisions over the years. Perhaps you've had a few of those less than stellar decisions of your own. Looking back, I wonder why I persisted when there were plenty of "warning growls" to let me know I was heading in the wrong direction. Maybe you've never done this, but I have to admit that I have. I, like Mamie, have a tendency to do one more round, just to be sure. 

Now that I have accumulated a few birthdays (being 39 again), I'm not quite as foolhardy as in my youth, but there are days when I'm likely as foolish as Mamie. If you are honest, you probably have those days, too. As we look toward the new year, let's take a lesson from the Wonder Dogs. 

Be smarter than you want to be.
Listen for the warning growls, and stop while you're ahead. 

Waiting for Jesus, part 20: believing until we see

And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Child, arise!" And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. (Luke 8:53-55 NASB)

Poor Jairus. He was a jumble of emotion and must have been near the breaking point. First, there had been the anxiety of his daughter's illness, then the fear when he realized how sick she was, the desperation as he sought healing for her, the rending when he became willing to break with his synagogue and seek help from Jesus. He finally made it to the feet of Jesus only to have a devastating interruption that lingered just a little too long, the heartbreaking news that his daughter had died, the death march to the house with Jesus, and the insanity of Jesus saying a dead daughter was asleep. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 

In the next moment, Jesus reached out His arm, picked up the little girl's limp hand, and spoke the two words Jairus would remember as long as he lived. "Child, arise!"  There was not a moment's hesitation. Immediately, she got up, because when the Son of God says arise, that is exactly what you do. 

Imagine for a moment how Jairus felt when he saw that strong right arm reach out for his daughter's hand, when he head those words calling his daughter back. Did his fear, desperation, or the interruptions along the way matter then? They did not. All that mattered then was that his daughter sat up and opened her eyes. Everything that had happened before faded into unimportance in the light of the work of God. 

The truth is that everything fades in importance in comparison to the work of God, but we often fail to recognize it until that very last moment. Because we lack the omniscience to know the future, all we see is where we've been and where we are. When the movement of God finally comes, it is the most joyful, amazing thing imaginable because we truly could not see it coming. 

We, of course, only want to believe what we see, but Jesus said we were blessed when we believed without seeing. (John 20:29). That's what Jairus did. He believed Jesus could save his daughter long before he saw Jesus save his daughter. When all hope was gone and his daughter was dead, Jairus stayed the course, still waiting on Jesus. In the end, he was so glad he did. 

When we combine obedience to the admonition to "fear not" with the command to "only believe", trusting our Lord to move in our situation of utter hopelessness, we can expect an amazing intervention of God. It may not look like we expect. It may not come when we want it, but when God moves to intervene on our behalf, it will not only be unmistakeable, it will be unforgettable. 

We learned this song as children, but it is no less true today.  

"Trust and obey. 

For there's no other way,

To be happy with Jesus

Than to trust and obey."

(John H Sammis 1887)

Are you in the midst of an utterly hopeless situation? Take your eyes off that situation and focus them on Jesus. Look to Him, trust and obey, and hold firm until His redemption comes. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/09/my-soap-box-politicians.html

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Please continue to pray for those who have linked their lives to the evil of terrorism, that they would be brought out of darkness into light. Pray for those in their path of destruction to remain firm in their faith and to be protected in times of great danger. 

The Good Soil: Part Five (Luke 8:8,15)

And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. (Luke 8:8, 15 KJV)

For disciples of Christ, their great desire should be fruitfulness, fulfilling that last command of our Lord to make disciples. In this pasage, Jesus explained how to become fruitful. It is not a byproduct of a fancy degree or untiring work, although both may be important parts of the process. Fruitfulness comes only as a result of the Sower's Seed, the Word of God, planted in the fertile soil of our hearts. 

Before we go further, it is vital to recognize that our hearts are the receptacle for the Seed, but it is the Seed that brings the fruit. Without it, there can be no fruit. Hearts that long to be productive must allow that vital Seed to be planted and grow, and that requires time spent in Bible study and contemplation. It requires obedience to the Word. 

There is one more very important characteristic of the disciple that is fruitful. Patience. The word translated as patience is hypomonē, and it comes from two root words that, taken together, mean "to abide under".  The word indicates constancy in the face of trials and incredible opposition. This is the kind of perseverance that endures all ills, all manner of bad treatment and discouraging circumstances, yet never gives up. 

It is the same patience with which missionaries serve and work for years without seeing a convert. This passage indicates that the Seed that finds a home in fertile soil and is nurtured consistently will bear fruit in time, if we are willing to persevere. It does not suggest that the waiting will be easy. 

The problem with waiting is that we do not like it, and we do not want to do it. I well remember overly-enthusiastic evangelistic acquaintances who were so aggressive with their tracts that I was delayed in finding a vital relationship with Christ. Impatience for fruit is common, and I confess to a tendency toward impatience myself, but it is counterproductive to the cause of Christ. 

If we are to bring forth fruit with patience, then patience is what we must have!  There is nothing in Scripture to indicate that the Seed of the Word can be rushed. In fact, 2 Peter makes it clear that God will not be hurried, and He is, Himself, waiting to allow more hearts to turn toward Him. 

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 NASB)

Have you planted seeds of truth that have not yet borne fruit? Wait. Wait prayerfully, but wait, just as our Lord does. In due time, He will bring the harvest. 

Today, pray that we and our loved ones will have fertile soil that welcomes the Seed of the Word of God and nurtures it until the harvest comes.

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Link to last night's post:  http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/shopping-for-rings.html