Becoming Calm And Submissive Goes For Humans Also

Picture of our daughter Jaci and Jack

Our puppy Jack anticipates his play times through out the day. In the mornings when I rise, he knows that soon he will get to play with his football. Every morning before I play with Jack my husband and I have coffee together before he goes off to work. Jack does not like my coffee time with hubby, he  whines and is very impatient. He will climb on my leg and look up at me and then eye the place where we keep his football. If I get up and move around he is right at my heels impatiently whining. I spoke to him the other morning and said, "Jack you know how all this works, when you become calm and submissive then I will play with you, but until then you are going to have to wait and be patient." Yes.. I do talk to my dog that way but I'm not sure if he really understands me. It seems like he does sometimes, and when that happens it's pretty amazing! It usually isn't very long that if I continue with my business and ignore him that he will eventually surrender and lay down, but not before he lets me know just how frustrated he is as he lets out a long and loud errrrrrrrr......"sigh." You know the sound Snoopy makes on the Charlie Brown cartoons when he gets frustrated. When Jack has been in his calm submissive state for a while that is when I will arise get his football and the fun begins.

That particular morning when those words came out of my mouth: "That when you become calm and submissive Jack then we will play" it was as if the Holy Spirit spoke in to my spirit and said, "This is what I am waiting on when it comes to you. A lot of times we can be just like Jack, we whine, we get impatient, we fret, beg and plead when we want something. But God is saying "be still, be at peace and stop being so impatient and rest my child and wait on me." "I am here and I hear your cries and I care very deeply and want to give you the desires of your heart but you must learn to be patient, calm and wait." You know the verse, "Be still and know that I Am God." God does want to move on our behalf but in His own time and in His own way. We must be patient and trust our Father and learn of Him. When we are running around like a crazed chicken, God does have a way of getting our attention if we would just stop long enough to listen and hear Him say "be still and get your eyes back on me."  Sadly, we ignore His voice sometimes and settle in our mind that we will do things our way, which will always leave us feeling frustrated and stressed. The Lord has taught me that when I am feeling frustrated then I am not operating in faith.

What is the purpose, you might ask, for such a lesson in being calm and submissive? Simply I would say that it is a lesson in obedience and reverence to God. Trusting Him to do what He wills for us in His own time. His Word says that His plans for us are for our good and not our harm and to give us a hope and a future. I had to ask myself, "do I really trust my Father with my future, that He is going to take care of me no matter what"? We have so much to gain by not fretting and worrying whether God is listening to us or not. Peace is one thing to gain, which is huge! Know my friend without doubt that God is listening and He sees and cares. Know this, the Word says, "That if we delight ourselves in the Lord He will give us the desires of our heart." Before God gives us the desires of our heart, we should ask ourselves this question: "Are we delighting ourselves in Him or are we just expecting Him to delight Himself in us"? For the Word says, to delight "yourself" in the Lord "and" He will give you the desires of your heart. When we truly delight ourselves in the Lord His desires become our desires! Isn't that amazing!

Is there any harm in God teaching us a little bit of patience in the meantime, maybe some respect and honor as well when waiting on Him? He is our Heavenly Father, our Creator and worthy of our reverence and honor. Be honest, is this not a good character building lesson for all of us to learn? Just look at the world around us, there is so much dishonor and disrespect for others. One example I can think of is the protests that have been taking place at the funerals of soldiers. This is blatant dishonor of the soldiers and their families who have died in battle. All this under the guise of free speech, how sad it is! That is is only one example, I can think of so many more but they would be too numerous to list.

What about when it comes to our Heavenly Father? Haven't we all demanded things of God? We throw our temper-tantrums and sighs of frustration when we have questions and are not getting from Him exactly what we think we should have. Oh yes, and we should get these things that we want in a timely matter that we expect? As if the Creator of the heavens and earth is working the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant for our convenience. Be honest now.. I will admit that I have. But does God hold this against me? I don't think so, He's a patient and longsuffering Father who knows our weaknesses and He loves us unconditionally despite them. His mercy and grace are always more than sufficient for us. If I don't hold my puppy (Jack's) impatience against him why would God hold my impatience against me. He loves us more than all of His creation. Remember this, just because God doesn't hold our impatience toward Him against us, that doesn't mean that He won't use it as a lesson in teaching us something. Sometimes these lessons can be tough ones to learn but they are for our good not our harm. When the flesh starts screaming, the best thing to do is to "Be still and know that He is God" and remember that He is in the midst of our situation and He is working together for the good of them that love Him and who are the called according to His purpose. God does hear, He does care and He loves His children so very much. If you ask for bread from your Father, will He give you a stone? No, He gives His children good gifts. He will meet you where you are and will take care of all things in your life. Trust your Heavenly Father with your life and see how beautiful He makes everything in His own time!