The green ball flies through the
hot summer air, whizzing ore the grassy green field. The ball lands and is
instantly engulfed in the green blades. Camouflaged now by its nest in the
grass, the ball eludes the little pup that sprang for it when it was thrown.
The pup is not deterred however, despite the tall grass and the fact that the
tennis ball has totally disappeared from view, the puppy tenaciously keeps
after the ball. Zigzagging left and right across the field, nose to the ground,
she pauses only every once in a while to sniff the air, trying to catch even
the faintest odor of the familiar smell. My scent is what she is striving to
catch. Joshy and I watch her with pride. Fiona has been a delight to both of us
since Joshy got her for me for Valentines Day. She is quite an odd looking dog,
with her brown eyes that have blue swirls in them, and her blue merle coat
(typical of the Australian shepherd). She has a very slender body and long legs
and ears that stick up and quite a long snout, all this combined I guess makes
her look like a coyote, for I have been asked on many occasions if she is one!
Makes me even more proud seeing as I love wild dogs J.
Anyways, Joshy and I were greatly delighted when we
first discovered how good she was with fetch. Running hard after the ball, she
always brings it back and gives it to us for another round. She will play fetch
all day if we let her. Even when she is beat tired, as soon as she catches
sight of her Frisbee or hears the sound of a tennis ball on concrete, she is to
her feet, eyes sparkling; they dance almost daring you to throw whatever is in
your hand.
“Look at her Joshy…she won’t give
up till she finds it or we call her off and stick her in her kennel.” A winsome
grin tenderly lights upon his handsome face, that cockeyed grin I love so, as
he says “I know. She won’t.”
“She is a good dog…I’m so proud of
her.”
All the while, all she can think about is finding
that ball and bringing it back to us. For she knows that we will be most
pleased with her, and this is the her soul desire at the moment: for her masters
to be delighted. And Nothing, nothing would stop her, she will keep after that
ball till she finds it, and find it she always does, because she is tenacious,
she won’t give it up!
The
hot summer wind blows my fly away hairs all about, Joshy slips his hand
into mine as we walk side by side. We were both buzzing with talk about
different things, lost in conversation. Suddenly Fiona begins to bark and
strains at the leash. Our attention is ripped from one another to a stupid
squirrel in a yard we were walking past. Josh pulls Fiona in closer. “Fiona,
NO! Fiona that’s enough, Fiona…” That stern tone is hardly ever heard from
Josh’s mouth. He is such a sweet man, he is usually either really happy (hyper
lol) or sad, never usually angry or stern. But when he is, he gets a stern
tone. Employing that now, Joshy continues to call her name, pulling her from
the yard and back onto the sidewalk. Had Josh not been stronger than Fiona and
able to pull her away, she would stay after that squirrel till it got away or
she got it.
So was this her tenaciousness at
work again as it was with the tennis ball? Or was this something else?
Stubbornness is more like it! It is her tenaciousness twisted around in an ugly
and most annoying form.
For every good thing of God, Satan
always offers a counterfeit. This is something that looks very similar to the
“real deal” but is totally false. It’s like having a bowl of whipped topping
(God’s goodness) before us and then a bowl of shaving cream (Satan’s
counterfeit), they both look alike but are obviously very very different! Used
for two very separate purposes, and won’t work well in either’s place.
The one that is probably most
popular is God’s Creation Account in Genesis 1 verses the Evolution Theory in
Darwin’s’ book. They look alike in that they both try to answer how everything
got here, but the difference is one is a theory and one is indeed fact (Romans
1)!
As I have pondered these things
betwixt Satan and God I have found that there are many “real deals” and their
“counterfeits” combinations.
Some that hit closer for us perhaps
are the world’s philosophy of “love yourself” verses God’s law that says we
ought to love Him first and then others (Matthew 5:45). Notice even how different the wording is
there. One is a philosophy, this carries with it the notion of if you want to,
it’s up for grabs and for debate. While God’s is not a philosophy it is a
command. It is a must, it is not up for debate or discussion; we are to love
God and our neighbors, end of story! Notice the very different purposes as
well. One is centered on purposes and goals that help to satisfy and delight
self; while the other is centered on purposes and goals that help to satisfy
and delight God.
The one that hits closest to home
for me is tenaciousness (God’s) versus stubbornness (Satan’s). Some might say
“well are they not the same thing?” My argument is that they are not. True they
are both energy that stands against something. Like a rock in the midst of a
mighty and raging river. All about the rock things are tossed too and fro.
Sticks, logs, foam and leaves are all at the mercy of the currents. They are
moved along by the current, taken wherever it goes, but not a rock. It stands
firm in its place, despite the pounding water against it. Both tenaciousness
and stubbornness are like that rock, they both stand against the currents that
come their way. They both don’t budge.
However, there is
obviously a fine line betwixt the two. The difference lies within their end,
within their goals. Tenaciousness has a good goal, a goal that is set on
delighting in and satisfying God no matter the cost. While stubbornness is
focused entirely on self, on delighting in and satisfying self, no matter the
cost.
Think back to the two scenarios with my pup
Fiona. In the first scenario, with the frisbee, we would say that Fiona was
being tenacious. She was focused on pleasing her masters and would not give up
till she did it. However, with the squirrel, she was being stubborn, digging her
heals in and not willing to move. In one instance her energy and ability to not
give up was good, in another it was entirely wrong and a hindrance to us, her
owners. The same can be said of us and our relationship to God! When we are
focused on what God wants us to be doing (the Frisbee), when we have delighting
Him as our highest goal, then our stubbornness is actually tenaciousness. But
when we have delighting self as our goal that tenaciousness is twisted into
stubbornness. So what we need to watch most closely is not what we are heading
after (the Frisbee or squirrel) but WHO we are heading after. For when we truly
have pleasing God as our goal our stubbornness becomes tenaciousness. Our pride
becomes humility. Our selfishness becomes selflessness. Our hate becomes love.
Our anger becomes peace. Our stealing becomes giving. Our lying becomes
integrity and honesty. Our hurtful and wrong speech becomes blessing the Lord
and others, and the list goes on. It’s no wonder than that Christ told us to
“guard our hearts, for out of it spring the issues of life.” He knows that we
were made to worship, made to delight someone other than ourselves, and He knew
that whoever/whatever has the thrones of our hearts would be played out and
seen in the things we do and say.
So much can change just with (W)who
is on the throne of your heart!
No comments:
Post a Comment