Trusting God

Prayer is not appointed for the furnishing of God with the knowledge of what we need, but it is designed as a confession to Him of our sense of the need. In this, as in everything, God's thoughts are not as ours. God requires that His gifts should be sought for. He designs to be honoured by our asking, just as He is to be thanked by us after He has bestowed His blessing.  A. W. Pink

My Mom and Dad went out of town last week and asked us to keep one of their dogs.  Clyde is a Shiba Inu just like our dog and they get along well so we always keep him when they go out of town. 

Well about two days into Clyde’s stay at the “Do Drop In”, (that would be our humble abode), he decided to take a trip.  He escaped out of the gate in our back yard and was gone.  By gone I mean by the time my husband got to the end of our driveway, Clyde was already several blocks away.  Did I mention Shiba’s are fast? 

What do you do when you are keeping someone else’s dog and they escape?  We started searching or I should say my husband started searching as I was at work.  I don’t think my boss would have understood me asking for time off to go catch a Shiba.  First of all, he wouldn’t know what a Shiba was and second he wouldn’t understand me taking off to go chase a dog.  When I got home that evening I started my own search with no luck.  We talked to a policeman who said they would keep an eye out for him. 

Anyway, I finally called my Mom to let her know we lost him, or in other words Clyde took a trip without permission.  I asked Mom to pray and asked her to ask my sister to pray.  On Friday I posted a lost and found message with Clyde’s picture at the local pound.  We went four days without hearing a word.

Yesterday I received a phone call from a lady who told me they found Clyde and she told me she had been taking care of him.   She said she Googled to see if she could find his owner and she ran across my post on the city pound website.

Here’s the thing.  When I received that call I was overwhelmed.  I had given up on finding Clyde and I had given up on God answering my prayer.  Two days ago I was praying and I started thinking about how Clyde would show up.  Every day when I walked out the gate I pictured him standing outside the gate waiting to get back in.  I pictured him standing outside our fence barking to get in because he could see my dog in the back yard. 

I had a preconceived idea of how God would work out finding Clyde and bringing him home and I also gave up that God would follow through.  What I figured out is that I do that frequently when it comes to God.  It’s stupid really.  I have an idea of how God should work things out in my life when I pray, and I expect Him to follow through in my way not His.  In reality God has a whole other plan and it is much bigger than I could ever dream up.  I need to learn to pray and let Him do what He does best.  My prayers are not going to be answered in the way I think they should, so why am I surprised when God answers them in a way I never thought of. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I ask for Your forgiveness for not having enough faith in You to work out the details.  Thank You for reminding me that Your thoughts are not my thoughts and Your ways are not my ways.  You want what is best for me.  Strengthen my faith through this example of Your amazing faithfulness.  I praise You for showing me who You are through the everyday things in my life.    

   

Scripture: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” ways the Lord.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:8-9