"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:
I will guide thee with mine eye." Psalm 32:8
Last autumn as the cool of the evening approached and the sun was ending its daily course with a spectacular display of orange, blue and lilac hues, I was walking my dog Cotton. I was in a fowl mood; I had just had an argument with a loved one and was feeling sorry for myself because I knew she was right in her criticisms. I felt trapped, heckled, and underappreciated by the stinging criticism. That day walking Cotton wasn’t my customary act of responsible dog-parenting; I just didn’t want to be at home at that particular time.
One great feature of our community is that we are close to nature and thus have amazing access to the native wildlife of the Arizona desert. It is not uncommon to see coyotes, little quail families walking all over the place, and most of all bunnies. There are various bushes around my neighborhood that serve as great hiding places for these little creatures so that you could walk by and not notice they are there.
I had Cotton on his leash and we began to walk. He has a little walking-sniffing-marking routine that he goes through on each bush and big rock that crosses his path, and this day was no different. Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice that Cotton had stopped dead in his tracks and was looking into a bush. Suddenly, a little bunny with a white fluffy tail darted out from underneath the bush and as soon as Cotton saw it he followed suit.
Cotton is a small 10 lbs. dog with long legs and is able to run fast. That day as Cotton was darting he nearly pounced onto the scared little rabbit when a tug on his neck abruptly stopped his progress. My leash had held him back from fulfilling what was at that moment his life’s ambition—catching the defenseless bunny and doing God-knows-what to it. Obviously disappointed, he stopped, winked in the cool air as he caught his breath and watched the bunny quickly disappear into a neighbor’s back yard. As if weighing his options, he looked around, sniffed at the air again, and began walking, sniffing, and marking again.
I observed him for a moment and as I assessed what had just happened, my mood sank lower. I began to ask myself if I was a good parent to my dog. Guilt crept up in my mind as I wondered if he had hurt his neck. Thoughts of my poor dog's forced submission to my whims gripped at my chest. Was he happy with me? Did he feel fulfilled in his life, even though he couldn’t do the things he wanted to do? Did he chase the bunny because he was envious of the bunny’s freedom to roam where he wished?
The oppression overwhelmed me. As tears began to whelm up, I did the only thing I could think of doing—I prayed. I asked God the aforementioned questions, and shared my frustrations with Him.
Then a light turned on.
It turns out that God had drawn a beautiful picture of his process in my life through Cotton’s bunny chase. He took me back to the first time I saw Cotton at the Humane Society; he was dirty and very scrawny, scared and desiring to be loved by someone. He reminded me of how I took him in my arms and the immediate bond that took place between us. Then he showed me how I trained him to come to me and let me put the leash on his neck. How he begs me to walk him when I go more than five minutes past the time when I usually take him out. How Cotton’s needs are met through his relationship with me.
The bunny on the other hand is born and lives his entire life in the wild. At a very early age he has to learn to fend for himself. Whereas I feed Cotton everyday, the bunny has to find his own food. As Cotton monopolizes ¾ of my bed every night, the bunny has to find his own shelter. If there is a predator on the loose, the bunny must find his own protection, while the leash provides Cotton with a direct and immediate link to his protector.
In essence God was showing me that while I long for the freedom and independence that the world provides, God uses the “leash” of our relationship to provide for all my needs. If I need direction, he guides me through His Word. If I need nourishment he provides for my daily spiritual and physical meals. If I need shelter, I don’t need to find a bush or run for my life, I can hide under the shadow of His wings. When the enemy is on the prowl, seeking to devour me, I have a direct link to my Protector. And all that he requires is that I do not shake loose from the leash!
It is the same with all of us. It is easy to look at the restrictions that a relationship with God can seemingly put upon our lives, and we forget the blessing that it is to not be exposed to the wilderness that a life independent from Him can be. To some it might be humiliating but to those of us who know the value of it, it is an awesome adventure…Ω
Of course you can’t live life on the leash if you don’t know Him. If you don’t know what it is to live under God’s leash (i.e. to have a relationship with Him), you can. It is found in a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. If you want to start that relationship with him it is easy, simply please follow the link on the right of this post. Don’t waste another minute, today is the day of salvation!
© 2007 Jimmy Monreal
