If anyone of you know me in any way shape or form, there’s no doubt that you know I love dogs. When I say I love dogs, I mean I have an extreme passion for them. If I see one walking on the sidewalk, I will stop anything I’m doing in the given moment to get a chance at petting the thing. The possibility of getting bit by it never stops me. The bigger and the fluffier the dog, the better. I had a dog growing up named Daisy that slept in my bed with me nearly every day. The phrase “a man’s best friend” could not be more accurate. I believe that God creating dogs is a little gift and blessing from Heaven that he gives us humans to love on us in a simple way. The love that a dog and its owner have for each other may in some ways relate to the love and character that Jesus has for us. You’re probably thinking, “Is he really comparing God and His children to a dog? Who does this guy think he is!?” Hang with me as I share what God has spoken to me in a situation that brought me closer to Him and His presence.
Quickly upon arriving to our new ministry location, Hope Mountain in the Dominican Republic, I get overly excited as I see that they have THREE DOGS that are chasing our bus to greet us when we come out! This instantly made this place more at home, and Jesus was loving me well at that moment. I connected right away with the one chihuahua named, Sandy. This is the closest I have to a decent picture of this awkward creature.
She follows me everywhere I go when we’re working on the ministry site, sleeps with me, and I am happy to pet her often. She soaks in all of the loves.
After a solid day of walking the streets of the Dominican Republic to pray for those we come across to encourage, pray for their spiritual walk, for healing, and doing construction work for our ministry host site so that they can serve more of the community, we ended the night with some worship. While we are worshipping on a rooftop that overlooks the beautiful forest of the Dominican Republic, God gives me an awesome analogy.
My new friend, Sandy, came up to me begging to be pet and loved right in the middle of worship. My eyes are closed as I feel a little scratchy dog at my feet. Her puppy eyes and bat ears look straight up to me asking for my love. Right away, God says to me, “this is like you and I.” God shows me that me standing there is like Jesus. Available, open, and ready to love and care for me. He shows me that I am like Sandy. Seeking after Him with everything that I have. Begging for His mercy, care, help, guidance, and a touch from Him. He shows me that he wants me to be just like this dog. Innocent and only relying on its master alone. Like Sandy, he wants me to be fully surrendered to my master, open to wherever he wants me to go, whatever he wants me to do, and whatever he wants me to change. The dog longs for comfort. They are constantly desiring love. We have an emptiness in our heart desiring something more when we don’t have God. We desire something more than the things that this Earth has to offer. We are constantly longing for someone or something that fills us with the comfort and love that only Jesus gives. Our God gives this unconditionally! All we need to do is receive it and seek Him the way he does for us.
I picked up Sandy while worshipping, soaking in what Jesus is showing me in the moment. I am fully content and present on the one who is my Master that holds and comforts me every second of my life. As soon as I pick her up, she relaxes knowing she is safe in this moment. Nothing else matters to her in that moment but soaking in the presence of her master and love from him. She doesn’t worry about what she will eat the next day or where she will go after that moment. Jesus says in Mathew 6, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and body more than clothes? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? … But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” The only thing only thing that brings us pure safety and security is Jesus. He tells us to not worry, because He is here, alive, and with you. That longing that we have for something more is Jesus. He wants us to let Him hold us. We just have to let him!
What if we had the same character that a dog has for its master. Seeking our master whole heartedly, surrendering ourselves to Him and His perfect will. Having a willing heart for change when he asks us to change something about us. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” When we follow Jesus, there is always going to be areas in our life that he asks us to develop, change, leave behind, or let die off. It says in scripture that we must die to ourselves, take up our cross and follow him (Mathew 16:24). In the same way the master trains their dog, God shapes us into the man and woman of God that he creates us to be. For a unique and special purpose. The dog must end its bad habits to follow what is best for them.
Like a dog, there are times we mess up, wondering off wanting to create our own path, not seeking His guidance, forgetting everything we have learned from our master and the way He asks us to live our lives. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). BUT Jesus is patient with us. He leads us to green pastures and clear waters when we go astray (Psalm 23). We continually fall short of the glory of God, but he gives us mercy like no other (Romans 3:23). He wants to train us to follow Him because He knows and provides our every need, what we lack, and our hearts desire. We need nothing more or less than committing to Him whole-heartedly because in Him, he provides our every need. Jesus says in Mathew 6:8 to “not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). In Jesus, we have everything. Anything not of Him is an endless chase after a ball we can never grasp. Jesus delights in us following and chasing after him. There is nothing more that he wants. Our master is proud when we do the simplest act of having a character of a puppy, just obeying what he asks of us, and following His training. Zephaniah 3:17 says “The Lord your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you… he will rejoice over you with singing.”
He will delight in us. He delights in who we are. He wants a personal and unique relationship with you if you just let Him. Just in the same way an owner delights in their dog. The owner trains, owns for a purpose, has patience, and they continue to love their dog unconditionally. They will always be there for it when it needs love in the simple way of being held by its master. Jesus gives all of these things. In fact, way more than these things. In the same way Jesus and I have a unique relationship in that he communicates His love and character to me through a chihuahua, he wants a unique and intimate relationship with you. His arms are wide open! Your master, owner, and trainer is calling your name!
