With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2 (ESV)
My wife and I have rescued and given a home to many needy animals over the years. We see these creatures as wonders of God's Creation who deserve to have a decent life for their time on this earth. Horses, dogs, cats, birds, it doesn't matter, each in their own way offers an addition to the living experience that is worthy of God's requirement that we treat them humanely as part of our dominion over all living things.
My wife has a special gift when it comes to animals; she is a living modern day version of Dr. Doolittle. She can "talk" with the animals without uttering a word and they understand exactly what she is "saying" and she understands what they "say" to her as well. Unfortunately for me, while I love them also I don't have this gift and it can sometimes lead to my frustration and impatience.
An example of this took place yesterday. I was taking our small flock of geese outside to a fenced yard from their overnight enclosure so they could enjoy more freedom in the bright, warm sunshine during the day. In that yard Angus the Shetland pony also resides where he peacefully coexists with them. As I opened the gate to let the geese in, Kaz our Great Dane suddenly decided he wanted to "play" with them and they scurried away to the nearby barn area instead of into the yard. Turning my attention to Kaz, I scolded him loudly and took my attention off of the chore at hand for a moment. Angus was waiting for the opportunity, and he gleefully ran by me, energized by his new found freedom. This furthered the problem by exciting Kaz, who ran after him and increased the activity to a crescendo of motion and sound. Chaos ruled for a moment.
Instead of patiently dealing with the issue, I scolded Kaz who now refused to come to me, deciding to play a game of cat and mouse with me as well. I let it get the best of me for a moment but soon recognized that relaxing my demeanor was the first step in calming things down. I slowly walked to Kaz, softly talking to him and he wagged his tail and came to me. I took him back inside the house and then walked to the barn where the fowl and the pony were now enjoying the smell of freedom.
All of this time I was plugged in to BBN Radio, something I do during my morning chores as part of my daily devotionals. En route to the barn, the message of patience came through as clear as a church bell on Sunday morning. The minister delivering a message at that very moment was talking about Ephesians and the passage that I quoted above. It hit me like a bolt of lightning: little Angus and these other wonderful animals were in their mischievous way teaching me a lesson about patience. What a wonderful way for me to receive such a message, right when I needed the reinforcement.
The Lord does this sometimes, folks. He uses lots of different methods of letting the Holy Spirit get through to us and if we will only unlock our heart to Him we will have a companion in our soul to help us know what to do, even in the case of a mischievous little pony.
Dear Lord: Help us to always keep our heart open to Thee and the guidance and counsel that is available to us through Thy Holy Spirit. If we avail ourselves of the Spirit and listen to it we will know how to handle any situation in a way that is pleasing to Thee. And for me personally, Lord, help me to continually work on being more patient in all situations, both with my human brethren and the wonderful animals who play a large part in my life these days. Thy love and encouragement is always there for each of us and we are so blessed to have it. All we have to do is stay true and keep our communications open with Thee through prayer, study and worship. Thank you, Father, for your love. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, who died that we might live, Amen.
Have a wonderful day, Brothers and Sisters, and always remember to put Christ first in our lives. If we do, we will be greatly blessed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Despite my many shortcomings as a mere mortal, I truly do enjoy the antics and activities of the animals who in their own basic way teach me so much about the love of God. If you would like to see more of my stories, check out my book involving so many of our different animals: outskirtspress.com/honeyweshouldaboughttheark.com.
My wife and I have rescued and given a home to many needy animals over the years. We see these creatures as wonders of God's Creation who deserve to have a decent life for their time on this earth. Horses, dogs, cats, birds, it doesn't matter, each in their own way offers an addition to the living experience that is worthy of God's requirement that we treat them humanely as part of our dominion over all living things.
My wife has a special gift when it comes to animals; she is a living modern day version of Dr. Doolittle. She can "talk" with the animals without uttering a word and they understand exactly what she is "saying" and she understands what they "say" to her as well. Unfortunately for me, while I love them also I don't have this gift and it can sometimes lead to my frustration and impatience.
An example of this took place yesterday. I was taking our small flock of geese outside to a fenced yard from their overnight enclosure so they could enjoy more freedom in the bright, warm sunshine during the day. In that yard Angus the Shetland pony also resides where he peacefully coexists with them. As I opened the gate to let the geese in, Kaz our Great Dane suddenly decided he wanted to "play" with them and they scurried away to the nearby barn area instead of into the yard. Turning my attention to Kaz, I scolded him loudly and took my attention off of the chore at hand for a moment. Angus was waiting for the opportunity, and he gleefully ran by me, energized by his new found freedom. This furthered the problem by exciting Kaz, who ran after him and increased the activity to a crescendo of motion and sound. Chaos ruled for a moment.
Instead of patiently dealing with the issue, I scolded Kaz who now refused to come to me, deciding to play a game of cat and mouse with me as well. I let it get the best of me for a moment but soon recognized that relaxing my demeanor was the first step in calming things down. I slowly walked to Kaz, softly talking to him and he wagged his tail and came to me. I took him back inside the house and then walked to the barn where the fowl and the pony were now enjoying the smell of freedom.
All of this time I was plugged in to BBN Radio, something I do during my morning chores as part of my daily devotionals. En route to the barn, the message of patience came through as clear as a church bell on Sunday morning. The minister delivering a message at that very moment was talking about Ephesians and the passage that I quoted above. It hit me like a bolt of lightning: little Angus and these other wonderful animals were in their mischievous way teaching me a lesson about patience. What a wonderful way for me to receive such a message, right when I needed the reinforcement.
The Lord does this sometimes, folks. He uses lots of different methods of letting the Holy Spirit get through to us and if we will only unlock our heart to Him we will have a companion in our soul to help us know what to do, even in the case of a mischievous little pony.
Dear Lord: Help us to always keep our heart open to Thee and the guidance and counsel that is available to us through Thy Holy Spirit. If we avail ourselves of the Spirit and listen to it we will know how to handle any situation in a way that is pleasing to Thee. And for me personally, Lord, help me to continually work on being more patient in all situations, both with my human brethren and the wonderful animals who play a large part in my life these days. Thy love and encouragement is always there for each of us and we are so blessed to have it. All we have to do is stay true and keep our communications open with Thee through prayer, study and worship. Thank you, Father, for your love. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, who died that we might live, Amen.
Have a wonderful day, Brothers and Sisters, and always remember to put Christ first in our lives. If we do, we will be greatly blessed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Despite my many shortcomings as a mere mortal, I truly do enjoy the antics and activities of the animals who in their own basic way teach me so much about the love of God. If you would like to see more of my stories, check out my book involving so many of our different animals: outskirtspress.com/honeyweshouldaboughttheark.com.
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