Whimpering

As I was packing the other day, my dog began to whimper. He followed me around, getting under foot constantly. I had many things to do, and one of them was preparing a better spot for him to ride in. You see, with four children and all our things, usually, the dog gets stuck down at the feet of two of the children when we travel. But, knowing that many trips were coming up, I wanted to prepare a better place for him. He rides well, obeys when we tell him to lie back down, and I wanted to ease his discomfort while also rewarding his good behavior. But, his whimpering was about to drive me mad. He was so concerned about getting left behind that he didn’t notice all the things that I was doing concerning him… bringing his dog dishes, gathering his leash and his brush, removing a seat, placing a blanket, etc. Even once he got to run outside and jump into the van, he ignored all the extra work I put into making a better place for him. He would not go into his new spot for anything. It took almost 14 hours of driving before he realized that not only would he still be coming with us if he moved to this new place, but that he would be more comfortable in the new place, too.

We are so like that dog of mine. We ask God for something, whimper and moan and groan while He is preparing things, and then we don’t even move into the new and better place He has prepared until He has had to show us a few dozen times that it truly is better.

God will never leave us behind. He is preparing a wonderful place for each of us, not only in heaven but also here on earth. He is listening, He is loving, He is patient (thankfully) during our whimpering. Most of all, His abundance of grace and mercy and love will never cease to bring us into better and better places.

Passing through the storm

Lightning flashes, immediately followed by the crashing sound of thunder. Rain in sheets, wave upon wave upon wave pound down around. We have a purpose; we have to journey on. We could choose to stop and sit through the entirety of the storm, wishing that everything would just blow over, but there is another storm coming, and time is of the essence. What do we do? We slow down, yes, because safety necessitates it, and we pray that God will lead us through. He does; as the storm rages on, we travel, in God’s hands, safely through to the other side where the sun shines brightly and everything sparkles with the remaining drops of rain. Had we stopped, we would still be sitting in the midst of the chaos, and we wouldn’t have achieved our purpose at the end of the journey.

Travel on, follow workers, travel on; God is holding you safe.