Trust is letting go of needing to know all
the details before you open your heart.
ANONYMOUS
Becky knew a stray dog was living in the orchard across the road from her house. She watched the dog on her way back and forth from work. From time to time, she would see people try to lure the animal, but the stray would not be beckoned.
This went on for about a year. One day Becky threw some old muffins into the alfalfa field, thinking the birds would eat them. The next morning she looked out to see the stray dog eating the muffins. And that’s where the real story begins.
It became Becky’s mission to get this homeless canine to trust her. She took food out to the edge of her yard and left it for the dog. The animal eyed her very cautiously, and would not approach the food until Becky walked some distance away. But as the weeks passed, this dog began to trust her kind human friend a bit more. Becky didn’t have to walk so far away for the dog to start eating. It took about two months, but finally the dog let Becky get close enough to pet her. This was how Becky discovered a tick and an infected cut on the dog’s side. The dog let Becky clean her up and put medication on her wound. As her trust continued to grow, Becky’s new canine pal started sleeping on her back porch. Becky named the dog Bonnie.
As their friendship grew, so did Bonnie’s body. It was evident that she was pregnant as she began to take on “the look.” At this point, she was still disappearing and showing up again. Suddenly, one day, Bonnie showed up skinny.
Becky asked Bonnie where the puppies were. To her amazement, Bonnie headed out to the fenced-in back lot. She crawled under a hole in the fence where Becky couldn’t go. Becky told Bonnie she was going back to the house to get the key to the gate. Bonnie crawled back through the fence hole and accompanied her human.
After Becky opened the gate, Bonnie led her to an old boxcar from a train. It was being used for storage. Bonnie had dug a hole under the boxcar. That’s where the puppies were.
It was remarkable. A few months before, this dog wouldn’t come near Becky. Now she was leading Becky to her puppies! Becky got down on her stomach in the dirt and started fishing them out one paw or tail at a time. Eleven puppies later, she had the whole litter. She stuffed them all into her shirt and carried them to the safety of her back porch where she could supervise them more closely. They lived in a plastic swimming pool until they were big enough to roam the yard. Becky found homes for ten of them and kept Bonnie and her cutest puppy, Tess. The more Bonnie trusted her human, the more Becky could offer her. Their relationship grew into a wonderful bond. In fact, Bonnie would not leave Becky’s side. She even slept next to her human’s bed at night.
Becky’s relationship with Bonnie taught her several great lessons about her relationship with God.
First, Becky was watching Bonnie and was concerned for her well-being even before the dog was aware of her. God had His eyes on us even when we were not yet aware of Him.
Second, Bonnie’s trust was shaky. She ate and ran away again. Still, every time she returned, Becky welcomed her. God continues to love and welcome those who come to Him with shaky trust and don’t yet understand what an intimate relationship with Him holds.
Third, Becky was patient with Bonnie’s fears. It took time for Bonnie to come close enough for Becky to remove the tick and treat her wound. God waits patiently for us to allow intimacy with Him so that He can bind up our wounds and remove the things that torment us.
Finally, by the time Bonnie’s puppies were born, she was willing to trust these most precious possessions to her human. Becky gathered the puppies up and protected them better than Bonnie could. Even though it is ever so hard to release our children to the Lord, He knows how to protect them and grow them up far better than we do. But it is only through getting to know who He really is that we can trust Him enough to place their lives in His hands.
Bottom line: God gave Becky a glimpse of His patience with us and showed her why He wants us to be intimate with Him. She realized that the better we get to know God, the more He can give us.
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). But, like Bonnie, we must allow it. Becky shared that during this time, God began teaching her how very much like stray dogs we are in our relationship with Him. He has so much to offer us, but fear keeps us at a distance. We come in just close enough to snatch up the scraps of the abundant life and run away again.
Or we may be like a friend of mine who is still spiritually searching. He reads everything he can find on different religions but can’t seem to accept that Jesus is the truth he’s been seeking. He rummages the orchard of life, hoping to score a few old muffins, when he could be feasting on a wonderful relationship with Christ.
Proverbs 18:24 says, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Jesus wants to be such a friend to us. Will you let Him draw you close so He can touch and heal you?
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation (Psalm 13:5).
Are you still rummaging the orchard of life to score a few old muffins, or are you in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ? What “ticks” has He removed? What wounds has He bound up? How does that encourage you to trust Him even more and put what’s most precious to you in His hands?