A Dog's Faith

“Long, long ago God decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.”
Ephesians 1:4-6, The Message

We have two dogs, Bella and Layla. Both are small (or small-ish) dogs. Bella is a Lord-only-knows-what-kind-of-dog: short stubby legs, a Dachshund-like body, black-and-white mottled coloring. We adopted her when someone in the neighborhood had to move and needed to find a home for her. Layla is mostly Rat Terrier; she was recently adopted into our family when her human developed brain cancer and could no longer care for her.

Shortly after we adopted Layla, we were forced to evacuate our home and “head for the hills” when Hurricane Matthew was approaching. Carol and I had already planned to be at a wedding in middle Tennessee that weekend. But now, instead of flying to Nashville for a fun weekend getaway, we were driving the 12 hour journey with two dogs.

Still, it was a great adventure—at least for Layla and Bella. They got to go with us everywhere (except the wedding, when we left them in the hotel room). They got to see the mountains along I-40. They got to see the parking lot behind the Cracker Barrel. They got to have a picnic by the river. They got to walk five miles along a beautiful greenway in Clarksville. They even got to go to a cave with us.

As long as they were with us, they were happy and in heaven.

As I write this devotion, violent thunderstorms are moving across the southeast United States, and some of them have come into our county. The thunder and lightning have heightened the anxiety of Bella and Layla. Their eyes seem to quadruple in size at the sound of thunder. And they are staying close to us. Very close.

We're going to have two dogs in bed with us tonight, for sure.

Bella and Layla never know what the day will bring. But as long as we're around, they seem ok.

I see an image of faith in all this. Our life in Christ is a journey. It begins when Christ adopts us as his own. Sheer grace, it is, that we become children of God. "God decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ," notes the apostle Paul. Then he adds this thought: "What pleasure God took in planning this." (Ephesians 1:5, The Message) 

When you think of it, life is also full of adventures. Some of them will be exciting and fun, while others will be fearsome. We never know what the day will bring, or where God will lead us. But we know God, and so we can rest confidently that as God has taken care of us to this point, so will God care for us tomorrow and every tomorrow after that.

And when we find ourselves in the midst of storms in life, we have One to whom we can come and cling in our fear and anxiety. We have One who has the power to calm the storm and take us safely home.

Thank God, that God has chosen to adopt us into his family! Thank God for the indescribable gift of entering into God's grace, and experiencing God's providential care and constant presence!

I hope and pray that I can look to the Lord with faith and love that equals the way our dogs trust and love us.