Following the Call

Gimli mid-bark

Our neighbor stopped by the other day to borrow an iron. Being the fierce watchdog that Gimli is, he went nuts. He barked and barked, and wanted to storm out the door the second he could to greet the unknown visitor. We are trying to reclaim the door as our territory, so we've been commanding Gimli to go to his crate when he starts going berserk at the door. So, following along with this plan, Paul commands Gimli, "Go to your crate!". Gimli whines and reluctantly runs to his crate. Two seconds later, he's back. He can't help himself- he must know who it is that is at our door! He runs back to the door from the crate, to which Paul responds, "Gimli- go to your crate!" Letting us know his disapproval of this command, he whines all the way back to his crate, and guess what- 2 seconds later- back at the door! This pattern repeats 5 or 6 times before we could actually open the door for our neighbor.

Gimli had difficulty submitting to Paul's command because he had something different in mind for himself in this situation. He didn't like the command Paul gave him, so he struggled to obey. We could tell he wanted to obey out of loyalty to Paul, but the situation seemed more important than obedience. It wasn't of course, which we knew because we could see who was behind the door through the peep hole. Gimli had no idea who was there, and couldn't know because he is just too short to look through the peephole. But we're not. We are trying to train him to trust us to handle the unknown. I can relate to Gimli, because I often have trouble accepting God's call on my life if I want something different. Even when the calling God has given me is abundantly clear, I often struggle to obey because- well, I just don't like it. I go back and forth with Him, asking a zillion questions like,

 "Are you sure this is what I'm supposed to be doing? Are you sure you want me here? Are you sure I'm not going to look like an idiot if I do this? Wouldn't we all be happier if I were doing this other thing? See, look at all the advantages of me doing this other thing! No?... You just want me to keep doing what you've already told me to? For how long? (no answer)  I' guess that means indefinitely... But are you SURE God???" 

The truth I must accept is that in every phase of my life, there will be something I want to be different about my life. Life will never look exactly how I desire it to. That's the problem with living in a fallen world in a sinful body. But honestly, it really shouldn't because I don't know what's best for me, or what's lurking behind doors I can't see behind. I have to learn to accept the call God has given me for today, and obey Him because He is trustworthy & sees the big picture of my life and the whole universe. I don't think He minds, though, when I ask a zillion questions. Obedience is a process, and one we must engage with God to learn, so I think asking questions is good, as long as I can accept His answers even if it's not what I want to hear.

I believe God's got a plan to teach me to trust and obey Him, just like we've got a plan to teach Gimli not to go berserk over every knock on the door. Both plans involve commands requiring immediate and thorough obedience. I hope Gimli and I both learn quick!