I Know It's In There!

I have a dog named Eli. Living alone in Alaska can be quite lonely and Eli has been an amazing companion for me. He is a husky/greyhound mix... so he is a lean, big boy with tons of energy and quite the personality. I got Eli when he was just a few months old, so he and I have bonded over the years and developed quite the understanding of one another. I took pride in training him, and to be honest I think I did quite well :). However, I must admit there are moments when he actually teaches me something.

Today, Eli taught me about faith.

Eli has this toy that you can stuff treats inside. The trick is, the dog has to figure out how to get the treat out of the toy. Dogs love the toy because they get a yummy treat. Owners love it because their dogs entertain themselves for hours. Last year, I realized that Eli figured out that if he brought his toy to me, I would throw it and the likelihood of his treat being set free was increased (smart dog!). As such, depending on how stuck the treat was, he would come to me to throw his toy over and over until it came out. At times he might even give up for a day or two. But he always came back and kept persisting until he got the treat. Today, I managed to stuff a treat into his toy in a way that I knew it would take some diligence on his part to access. As usual, he kept bringing the toy to me in efforts to get me to throw it again...and again...and again. Each time he came to me with the same excitement like, "I don't know when it is coming out but I know it's in there! Throw it again!" That's when it dawned on me.

Should we not have this same attitude toward God?

It's so easy to feel like our prayers haven't been answered, or even heard. We rejoice when our prayers are answered quickly and with ease. But when the prayers take longer, it is so easy to think that things are 'stuck' the way they are. But should we give up and stop coming to God with our request?

No!

Whatever we are waiting for is right there in God's hands. We just have to have the heart of Eli the dog. Keep coming to God with the expectations that our prayers and faith will be answered. Just like with Eli's toy, we should essentially use our prayers to say, "I don't know when it is coming out but I know it's in there!" In God's perfect timing that 'treat' will be released.

Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I will lay my requests before you and wait in expectation- Psalm 5:1-3

Never stop praying- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (New Living Translation)