It Felt Like Abuse...but, Lesson Learned

So there I am. I’m sitting on the couch...with my eyes closed...attempting to nap. I hadn’t felt good all day. Because my wife is out of town visiting her elderly parents, our dog, who is lovesick for her, spends his entire day and night in our bedroom, in some doggie blankets, placed on the floor beside where she normally sleeps.

All of a sudden, I am awakened by this unanticipated and unmerited thud in my lap. Okay, I am a bit scared—after all, I was in a REM kind of sleep. It’s Samson, our 4 lb. teacup Chihuahua. He has left his bed in the master bedroom and has taken a giant leap from the floor to the couch; right into the most sensitive part of my lap.

What immediately comes to mind is he needs me for something. I wonder what it is.’ Then it hit me. He wants to go outside. I wasn’t very happy. He has wanted nothing to do with me since his mother left almost two weeks ago and now he wakes me up from a much needed nap. ‘How dare he, I thought?’

And then it hit me. It’s exactly what we often do to God. He hasn’t been involved in our lives much. And out of the clear blue sky, we jump in His proverbial lap and want something. We’ve not prayed to Him. Perhaps we haven’t even made to Church. And as far as our Bibles, well—there’s probably dust and a whole family of micro-organisms growing on it.

Many of us do not understand that it is through prayer and his Word, that we maintain a healthy relationship with God. It is no different than my dog, coming out of our bedroom and visiting with me every once in a while.

In both cases, we can see how it can be less than a joyful situation: God not hearing much from us and us wanting Him for something and me not having much interaction with our dog and him jumping on my lap to go outside.

There should be a lesson here for us all.