Monday, July 28, 2008

the buddy leash

Warning: This post may be difficult to follow outside of my brain. Inside, it makes perfect sense.

During worship yesterday, I felt as though the Lord were showing me an illustration. I was singing "You Never Let Go". The chorus says:

"Oh, no, You never let go,
Through the calm and through the storm.
Oh no, You never let go,
Every high and every low.
Oh no, You never let go,
Lord, You never let go of me."

As I sang those words I started talking to the Lord. I started thanking Him for the reality that He never has let go. I have wandered. I have struggled. Sometimes, I have tried to hide. But, He has never let go. Then I got this picture in my head of a toddler on a buddy leash. You know, those little backpacks with the tails that you can hang onto so your child doesn't bolt into oncoming traffic, etc. I thought, that's the truth, isn't it, Lord? It's not so much that I am trying to get out of Your grasp, I am not. I really do want to be safe in Your will. It's just that I sometimes wander, unaware of the dangers that could be just ahead. My next thought was that I have been walking with the Lord long enough, that I really should know better. I can't expect Him to put me on a buddy leash as an adult. I should be more mature in my walk than that. And instantly, I felt the Lord revealing this to me: If my child, no matter how old, was a danger to herself with her wandering, I would not hesitate to slap on that buddy leash. Her safety is more important than the fact that she should "know better".

So, I asked the Lord to strap on my monkey backpack and hold onto me to keep me from wandering into dangerous territory. I have no doubt that He will use this time to continue to teach me and train me to be able to walk side by side with Him without the assistance. But, until then, I will continue to remind myself of the visual of me walking next to my Savior wearing my buddy leash.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow i totally got that! no matter how old we get- we will never be perfect and will have times of distraction and fear, causing us to stray from the Lord but know that he will push that little button on the 'doggie leash' and pull us back in. There are times in all of our lives that we have taken those steps away but the life lessons and what makes us closer to God is the knowledge that He will always be there for us and we must trust in Him. I hope that God allows you that freedom so you may grow closer to Him and know that love and trust.

Mary Jo said...

Wow. I've been visiting my blogroll today and this is the 3rd post I've come up on that has touched me.

God loves us and doesn't want us to wander, that's for sure. And you know what?!?

I wnat to put on my leash too (but can mine be a tiger instead of a monkey? lol) and say, "hey God - I'm here. Keep me in line and keep me in check. Don't let me wander."

Thanks, friend.
I enjoyed reading today.
It was great.
And a blessing.

Anonymous said...

thank you so much for the constant encouragement and advice- your comments have really helped keep me going over the past few months! i hope that getting back on that saddle is easy and you are able to keep up the good work!!! God bless!