Lessons from my dog

"God has not given us a spirit of fear."
2 Timothy 1:7

I hate learning from my dog.  I love learning, but there's something embarrassing about learning from a creature I like to call, "A Dog of Very Little Brain."   But if I'm going to be teachable, I need to be willing to learn from my kids, and from clouds, and yes, even from my dog.

And truthfully, she's not a dumb dog.  She is smart and obedient ~ to a point.  (Aren't we all....)  She knows and responds to "sit" and "stay" and "come", as well as knowing when we want her to go into her crate, and when I want her off my bed!  She knows that she's not allowed on the couches, and will refuse even if the kids try to call her up there!

Our biggest complaint with her is her barking.  She's a rather timid dog, and her response to fear is to be as ferocious as possible, which is pretty much every time she's faced with anyone other than her four favorite people.

Therein lies the lesson.  Courageous Husband and I were sitting and talking in the living room, and Holly (whose full name, of course, is Holly-lujah) was lying down nearby.  Dozing happily in the presence of her adored Master.   Looking at her, Hubby kind of rolled his eyes a little and said, "Man, that dog has a cushy life..."   And I realized that he's right.  She has very few needs, so it doesn't take much to meet those needs.  She is warm, she is fed, and she is loved.  All's right with her world. The only problem in her life, is her anxiety.  Someone walking by the house (would you believe she's barking out the window even as I type??); someone knocking at the door; any noise she can't identify makes her anxious.  And she won't believe us when we tell her there's no reason to be anxious.  That those people are only "borrowing" our sidewalk to get where they want to go.

And what's more ~ she looks for reasons to be worried!  She sits on the bed, looking out the front window, waiting for someone to walk by so that she can be afraid when they do!  She is choosing apprehension when she could be doing so much more with her life!  Like sleeping!  Or.... eating.

So the only bad thing in her life ~ is entirely in her head.  Her trust in us, or her understanding of us when we communicate with her, does not extend to her anxiety.   Her faith in us is not strong enough to overcome her fear of the unknown.

Now, that is not exactly the case with me.  My fears have very real foundations.  I know a lot more than the world around me than Holly does, and my senses, and my intelligence are telling me I have good reason to be anxious.

What?

Oh.  I'm not convincing you, either?   Yeah, it sounded hollow to me, but I thought you might.... nevermind.

Lesson from my dog:  more faith, less fear.    Amen.