Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Have you ever heard of someone who hires a housekeeper, but goes through their house cleaning before they arrive? I do the equivalent with my pup before I take him to the dog groomer. Since he has an appointment tomorrow, I started getting him ready yesterday. I clipped and sanded down his nails, cut the extra hair between his paws, and even pulled out hair from his ears.
I know what you’re thinking, but I do have my reasons. First, it won’t take them as long. Second, he doesn’t like them being done, so I’d rather do all of that here at home to make it a more pleasant experience for both him and the groomer. He knows that he can’t get away with trying to hide his paws when I’m doing it. Third, I learned that I even save some money by doing those things myself!
Yesterday, when I pulled out the box with all my supplies that I needed, the pup gave me his doggie equivalent eye roll. He looked at me skeptically and approached me with caution when I told him to park it in front of me. He dramatically sighed to let the whole house know how hard his life was, but obediently lay down in front of me.
I may be the only person who rolls their dog on his back in order to clip nails, but it’s so much easier to see! I put my legs out so he’s nice and stable on both sides and we’re good to go. He has to pretend to be annoyed and pull his paw away a few times and even try to roll over, but he gives up pretty quickly when he realizes it’s just something he has to go through as part of the process.
By the time I got to the second paw, I heard a funny noise. I listened carefully only to realize that my pooch was snoring! He was fully relaxed and sound asleep with all four paws waiting to be dealt with. He may not have liked what had to be done, but he realized that it had to happen in order to move on in his life. There was no reason to fight against it, so I guess he figured he might as well relax and even get refreshed while it happened.
Wow! I think God was trying to teach me a lesson through my pup. I often act like him when it’s time to do something uncomfortable. I get a bit anxious and pull back because of fear. Call me Peter Jr. when he wanted to get to Jesus by walking on water.
I ask to step out, feel like I have the ok, and I’m even aware that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I get excited and start on my journey where everything is going along just fine. Then, my eyes start to drift to the wrong things. I see the problems around me and start to sink. I took my eyes off Jesus!
If I would’ve only kept my eyes on the right thing, I could’ve relaxed like the pup did. He didn’t like going through what wasn’t fun, but he also knew that he just needed to trust me and obey.
So many days I get up saying, “This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!” I start out great, but then I change focus to what’s happening around me. I’m going to let you in on something that my closest friends know about me. I’m a “what if” and a “yabbit” person.
That’s pathetic, I know! When the storm starts rocking the boat, I don’t get all excited and think that things are getting shaken up in order to grow and move forward. I don’t automatically think of all the lessons I’ll be learning and how I’ll be further ahead. Nope, I start focusing on the storm.
Why can’t I just realize that I’ve got to go through it, so I might as well relax and not be sick at the end? I’m not talking about sea sickness from the boat rocking, I’m talking about stress sickness from worrying and getting caught up in the swirling craziness around me instead of seeing the face of the unmoving Jesus that’s right in front of me.
Do any of these sound familiar to you or is it just me? In case you don’t know, yabbit means yeah but.
- “What if I fail?”
- “What if I’m on the wrong path?”
- “What if I mess it up?”
- “What if I didn’t really hear that?”
- “Yabbit it’s uncomfortable.”
- “Yabbit they’ll get mad.”
- “Yabbit I’m scared!”
- “Yabbit I don’t see how that’s possible.”
I realize these are the words said when I’m not letting the One who’s capable of handling all my situations be in control. If I would just not be anxious and allow fear to take over, I’d start saying…
- “What if I succeed?”
- “What if I’m going in the right direction?”
- “What if I help others?”
- “What if I’m in God’s will? How far can I go?”
- “It may be uncomfortable now, but I want to move forward.”
- “I have confidence that God will give me the words to say.”
- “I have nothing to fear.”
- “God is bigger than my mountains and sees what I can’t.”
Are you going to join me and start focusing on what’s ahead instead of the distractions around you? Are you going to relax and just keep moving forward toward the finish line or get caught up in the worries that take place with your “what ifs” and “yabbits” today?
I care for my pup and he knows that I’ll take care of him. It’s simple; God cares for us. If my pup can rest during something that’s uncomfortable for him when he’s dealing with a human, how much safer are we when we rely on God who’s much more capable than that?
No more negative “what ifs” and “yabbits” today. Be prepared to walk on water!
