The Short Leash

"A person whose desire rests on you, you preserve in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. Trust in Adonai forever, because the Lord Himself is the Rock Eternal." Isaiah 26:3-4

Recently, we purchased a new dog. He's a lovely little five month old great pyrenees puppy. His name is Caleb, and he's never had a leash on him before.

When I first met him, his owner carried him from the barn to me. I was sort of curious about this as he was a hefty 50 lb boy. After I clipped a leash on him, I realized why his owner carried him. He sat down, planted his feet, and thrashed his head from side to side while trying to chew the leash.

"This will not do," I thought to myself, and I proceeded to train him to walk with me. Always, I'd give him the opportunity to walk nicely, but as soon as he'd plant himself on the ground, I'd hold the leash a mere 4 inches from his collar and literally drag him. I'd stop every five or six feet to let him catch his breath before we'd try again. As soon as he'd walk nicely, I'd hold the leash normally again and we'd be on our merry way.

Watching Caleb balk at the leash reminded me tremendously to how I viewed a walk with God for my younger years. I was all too ready to receive the blessings of God and all the affection associated with being His beloved daughter without the responsibility of learning how to yield to his way. In my heart and with the decisions I made with how to run my life, I was planting my obstinate butt on the ground and digging in my nails. If I was going to go God's way, He was going to have to MAKE me!

I'm pleased to say that I've learned the beauty in yielding to God's way of doing things. I trust that where He wants to lead me is the best way to go. I know that sometimes I whine and grit my teeth as He pulls me in what I perceive to be the wrong direction, but I'm happy to say that I am not obstinate for obstinacy's sake. The Lord had to shorten my leash for years until I learned that suffocating myself was far worse than giving up my selfish will.

"But you would not go up. Instead, you rebelled against the order of Adonai your God; and in your tents you complained,'It's because Adonai hated us that he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, only to hand us over to the Emori to destroy us. What sort of place is it that we're heading for? Our brothers made our courage fail when they said, "The people are bigger and taller than we are; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and finally, we have seen Anakim there."' I answered you, 'Don't be fearful, don't be afraid of them. Adonai your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight on your behalf, just as he accomplished all those things for you in Egypt before your eyes, and likewise in the desert, where you saw how Adonai your God carried you, like a man carries his child, along the entire way you traveled until you arrived at this place. Yet in this matter you don't trust Adonai your God, even though he went ahead of you, seeking out places for you to pitch your tents and showing you which way to go, by fire at night and by a cloud during the day.'" (Deuteronomy 1:26-33)

The Israelites had the benefit of seeing how good and faithful God was, but they still didn't trust Him to lead them. They wanted to plant their furry butts on the ground and thrash at the end of the leash held by a wonderfully loving and forgiving God. This so hurt and infuriated God that He swore that the complaining, distrusting generation wouldn't see the promised land.

Good things are in store for those who yield willingly to the Lord's leading. If God can trust you on a short leash, He will lengthen it until you (in your freedom) will serve Him at the end of a long leash. At the end of this leash, there are many awesome things that God has been waiting to be able to entrust us with.

Luke 16:10 says, "Someone who is trustworthy in a small matter is also trustworthy in large ones."

Now, as our dear friend, the Apostle Paul says, "May God, the source of hope, fill you completely with joy and peace as you continue trusting, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may overflow with hope." (Romans 15:13) Ah, how pleasant it is to hope and trust in our Rock Eternal!