Puppy poopy and change

 

So the other day Micah and I were in the back yard with our 5 little puppies.  I did not notice he was barefoot until he started crying that he had stepped in puppy poopy.  I immediately told him to sit on the walkway until I had finished the phone conversation I was on.  It was only going to take a moment and then I would go inside and get something to clean him off with.  But, suddenly I looked down and Micah was scraping the puppy poopy off his foot with a stick.  I was actually impressed with his actions until he proceeded to wipe the puppy poopy off  the stick and onto my foot...well let just say my opinion changed rapidly. 

 

Sometimes we think things are going in one direction and then life takes a turn and things change.  Change is icky and hard most of the time. It kinda feels like poopy being wiped on your foot.  It can catch us off guard and make you want to scream.  This past week we presented the idea of change to some of the people we are discipling and we got the "poopy on my foot" look. 

 

Reading scripture has been an enlightening experience for many of the people we work with.  They have generally been discouraged from reading the Bible by their religious leaders and told that they were not capable of understanding it on their own.   Slowly they are realizing that they can understand God's word.  Slowly they are finding truth.  But with that truth comes change on the horizon.  And change is hard and scary. 

When you are confronted with the fact that things you knew to be truths have suddenly been revealed as untruths it takes time to digest.  Its hard.  It takes a lot of guts to walk towards truth when your family and friends are sitting contently in the middle of untruth.  Its a bold move. 

Right now they are in the digestion phase.  Waiting for God to do his work.  Our prayers have gotten harder to utter.  I find myself asking God to bring some type of chasm to their hearts that will force them to take a leap of faith and make a choice.  However, I realize that the choice they  might make at that moment may not be what I hope.  And that has to be ok. 

My job is not to force choices or decisions on people.  My job is to give opportunity. And once the opportunity is given, it is my job to be patient while God works in the hearts of his children.  I am a doer.  So being patient and waiting take a lot of effort.  Sitting still is not my forte.  But, when God says wait there is no other good choice. 

And so right now we wait.  We wait to see how God is going to solidify these truths in the hearts of those who have heard it.  We wait to see how God will bring forth opportunity for choices to be made and commitments to be declared.  And while we wait we hold fast to the truth that God has given us in his word.  "Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.  Psalm 40:4"  Not all will make the difficult choice to be a follower of Christ.  And while that is not my hope for anyone, it is not my choice to make. 

Change is on the horizon.  How and when are still not clear but it is coming.  And like the puppy poopy my son scraped on my foot the choices may not be to my liking.  But until those choices are made it is my job to get on my knees and plead before the throne of God for those who have yet to surrender their lives to Him.  And so if you need me I will be praying for Gods truth to penetrate hard hearts....or scraping puppy poopy off my foot.