There is a wonderful experience with Ellie that happens quite often. As the evening winds down, so does Ellie. She hops up into my chair, wiggles herself across my lap and tucks her face in underneath my arm. It isn’t long before she is asleep.
I love these moments, this beautiful, sweet dog deciding to take a before-bedtime nap in my lap. I feel her whole weight on me, and I know she believes herself to be in the safest place she can be. I rub her velvety ears and whisper to her how much I love her. She and I both enjoy the moment immensely.
There are times, however, when Ellie wants to be in my lap that are not sweet, cozy moments. Like Monday.
On Monday, we had thunderstorms for most of the day. A peal of thunder in the distance and a crack of lightning sent Ellie scurrying to my lap in record time. I held her close and reminded her that she was safe, but she would continue to tremble in fear until well after the thunderstorm passed. Even chicken could not distract her; she wouldn’t even look at it! I do have medication to give her, and it helps to take the edge off her anxiety, but I feel so helpless when my sweet puppy is so scared.
Ellie’s behavior reminds me so much of our Christian lives. When everything is going well, we enjoy the nearness, love, and mercy of the Lord. We “rest in His lap,” as it were, knowing we are in the safest place we can be. We feel loved and protected.
But when trouble comes, we have a different response. We hear the thunder, we see the lightning, we feel the pouring rain, and we choose to believe there is nowhere safe. The lap hasn’t changed. The arms holding us haven’t changed. The words to us through the Scriptures have not changed. But we have changed. We choose to see the lightning, to hear the thunder, to feel the rain. We also choose not to feel the comfort offered to us in the Scriptures. We choose not to believe that the Lord is exactly the same as when things were going well. Only what we choose to believe is not true. We are presented a lie by our enemy and because our eyes, ears, and feelings seem to agree, we believe the lie. The truth of the matter is God has not changed.
“For I am the Lord, I change not.” Malachi 3:6.
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever,” Hebrews 13:8.
If walking by faith is a choice, and it is, then let us believe that our Lord is just as near, as protecting, loving and caring of us in our troubles as He is in our times of comfort. Let us mark His word in our hearts and cling to them – and to Him-, in our sorrows. It is then we will realize He is a “very present help in trouble…our Refuge and Strength.”
I will be exalted among the heathen,
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of host is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Psalm 46:10-11
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