Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my blind dog, Jacco. Having a blind dog has been a weird transition. I’ve become a seeing eye human for my blind dog…. And surprisingly it’s taught me a lot about my relationship with God.
Here are some lessons I’ve learned:
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God knows what’s best for me. He can see much farther than I can.
Jacco is blind. When I walk him, I have to guide him or he’ll run into trees or wander out into the road. As his seeing eye human, Jacco trusts me to lead him safely through our neighborhood.
When it comes to my life’s direction, I’m practically as blind as my dog. I know the talents and gifts God has given me, but I have yet to see where and how God is going to use them. I highly doubt that God is going to reveal everything that He has planned for my life. It’s just not the way He works. Why? Because then I would have no reason to fully and completely trust Him. God knows my brain. He knows how I operate. He knows the trees to move me around and the streets to keep me off. He has the map to the neighborhood and I have to trust that He’ll guide me through.
Just trust Him, huh? Sounds easy enough.
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I’m stubborn and sometimes God will let me be stubborn. Other times He’ll give me a sharp tug on my leash.
You know how I said I navigate my dog around trees? Well, that’s mostly true. I do try to keep him from bumping into trees. But sometimes he’s stubborn. Actually, a whole lot of the time he’s stubborn. Most of the time he wants to do what he wants to do. And he doesn’t appreciate it when I try to intervene. Sometimes he resists. When that happens, he either ends up bumping into the tree or he receives a sharp tug on the leash to redirect him. Neither are particularly pleasant for him but usually it reminds him that he should be following my lead and direction rather than his own.
I’m pretty stubborn, too. There’s a lot of times I go my own way. There’s something wonderful about feeling independent and self sufficient. I like to think I can do things on my own. I like to think that I know myself pretty well, which means I must also know what is best for me. But that’s not what God’s concerned about. He doesn’t want my focus to be on me. Me only gets me so far before I run into a tree. He knows that. But sometimes I think He let’s me figure that out the hard way. Other times He jerks my leash and snaps me back to reality. It all comes back down to who am I going to trust? Me or God?
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Sometimes we don’t recognize Jesus because He appears to us in a different way than He has before.
When I first came home from the Race, my parents brought Jacco to the airport to greet me. We were all excited to see how Jacco would react to my homecoming.
Before I left on the trip, I was Jacco’s world. He adored me. He also wasn’t blind. I knew leaving for 11 months would be hard for him and I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I was coming home to a blind dog. Would he recognize me?
Overall, it was a pretty anticlimactic meeting. Jacco spent most of his time sniffing my pants, shivering in the Minnesota chill, and confusedly walking around the airport parking garage. It wasn’t like any of those “Dog Reunites with Owner” moments that you can find all over YouTube (For example, this one: Click Here).
I think that happens in our relationship with Jesus, too. Sometimes, I get too focused on the ways I’ve already heard God or seen Him. I forget that He works in a variety of other ways. My senses start to dull towards Him because I’ve put Him in a nice, neat little box. It’s a scary place to be. Why? Because that’s when I start to get lazy and complacent. I no longer feel like I need to learn more about God because I already think I know everything about God. I also start not to hear God’s voice. And without His voice, who’s going to keep me growing and changing into someone better? Who’s going to put me in my place when I think I have everything together?
I also like to think that Jesus purposely shows up in different ways. It makes me have to actively be looking for Him. In order to find Him, I have to pursue Him. And that doesn’t just mean looking for Him in the areas I feel comfortable… I also have to step out of my comfort zone. Why? Because stepping out of your comfort zone is surrendering your pride and taking the focus off of yourself. It’s a scary thing to shed that protective layer of pride because you have to see past your own fears and insecurity. You have to trust that God’s judgement and glory is better than your own.
Remember when I said trust sounded easy? Boy did I fool you! Let me clarify: It’s not. Not even a little. And it’s not just a one time deal. You have to do it over and over and over again.
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I should want to follow Jesus around and search for Him everywhere.
Although things weren’t exactly encouraging at the airport with Jacco, things started to change pretty fast. Soon he was back to his old self, which essentially means he turns into my shadow. Where I go, he goes. Where I stay, he stays. If I tell him to stay and I’m gone for longer than a minute, he searches for me. Once, he sat outside the bathroom door and whined until I came out. It’s endearing but also a little annoying.
Unlike me, I doubt that God gets annoyed when we follow Him with that level of love. Am I following God close enough that I could be His shadow? Am I as devoted to Him as my dog is to me? If I’m honest with myself, the answer is no. I’m distracted by so many things. And it almost seems like that level of devotion is unattainable. If that’s the case, why try? I’ll probably eventually blow it anyways. But that’s not a very great heart posture, in fact it probably would just make following God harder for me. If I would go into any other relationship expecting it not to turn out, it probably wouldn’t. And that’s not how we treat our friends or significant others. The world isn’t perfect and every friendship has its ups and downs. Does that mean we call it quits? I hope not or the world would be a pretty lonely place. So I won’t call it quits on God. He knows me and He knows my heart. He knows my tendencies to be distracted and go my own stubborn way. But even so, He’s still jealous for me in a way I can’t comprehend. He also has grace for me when I do blow it. He’s loyal and just waiting for me to trust Him completely. I think He’s worthy of being followed. There’s no one else would I rather shadow.
Jacco is a blind, 9 year old, Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle Mix) currently residing in Minnesota. He enjoys short walks, playing with his squeaky toy, and naps. His favorite person ever is Neala. He hates baths, his green sweater, and when Neala leaves him for long (or short) periods of time.
