A Dog and his Chicken Leg

I was sitting on the couch last night relaxing after a day filled with busyness, contemplation and having to do things bosses hate to do.  As I sat there, I began to think about events during the day that bothered me, and I found myself holding onto them for dear life.  My mind kept saying, "What are you doing?  This is silly."  My emotions were set on replaying those events.

Just a few minutes later, our dog Bailey comes into the living room doorway with something in his mouth.  We had the overhead light off, so Eric thought it was one of his toys.  I saw the way he was fixated and knew...he'd gotten in the trash and taken out an old piece of fried chicken I had thrown away.  I went over to him ,telling him to let go.  Eric kept telling him to let go, too.  As I grabbed the chicken, I realized he had a death grip on it.  He was not going to give up without a fight.  We kept telling him to drop it.  Let it go.  Finally after a couple of minutes, he acquiesed.  We banished him from the kitchen but couldn't help but smile and laugh as he cocked his head to one side with his hound dog ears spread out like radar and looked up sadly at us with his light brown eyes.

As I sat back on the couch after reprimanding him, I thought about how Bailey and I were so alike.  We both went in to the trash, took something out that we had no business having, and held onto it no matter how it would affect us. 
I have been praying to let go of those things that are so inconsequential and not worth the brainpower to keep thinking about.  I seem to be able to let go of the bigger things in life so easily and trust God.  Somehow, I keep wanting scraps, though.  I tend to want to revert to ways that aren't allowed.  Life is a fancy dinner.  I am praying I learn to keep my head out of the trash.

The Work of Rest

I have a hard time with this sometimes.  I seem to long for rest when I have pushed so hard to get the job done, but I still can't let myself really rest.  Rest requires trust in God beyond mere words.  It requires resting in the midst of doing.  I think that is a challenge we all face.

Controlling the situation seems to make us feel more secure.  Taking our hands off of it and going along for the ride can be extremely scary.  I think we fool ourselves, though.  We feel better when we are running to and fro frantically trying to handle things.  If we step back and let God steer, who knows what will happen?  How will we know the job will get done?  How will we feel empowered and proud of our work?

I am one to work and work forgetting that I am supposed to be doing God's work...not my own.  I think if we can keep the mindset that all that we do is not ours for the doing, we will be able to rest more fully.  The task at hand is not for our accolades, it is so God can show himself to the world.

This certainly is a weakness of mine.  The affects are exhaustion and dissatisfaction.  The great work of life can be to trust God to work out what we just can't.  To let him do the work through us, and to live in his rest.