Friday, February 22, 2019

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
Tootsie
A Story About Trust


     I've been doing a ketogenic diet for a while now and the sugar substitute I like the most is Xylitol - a natural sweetener made from birch bark.  Unfortunately it's also deadly to dogs, and from what I've read, even very small amounts can be fatal. I am extremely careful not to give my dogs any scraps or drippings of anything containing this sweetener.  I don't know how much it would take to kill them, but I'm not willing to chance them getting even a drop.
     Shortly after I started this way of eating, I poured myself a bowl of my homemade keto cereal. I have a goat farm, so I always have fresh, raw goat milk on hand.  My dogs LOVE goat milk, and I always have to give them a splash any time I get it from the fridge. 
     Previous to this diet, my routine would be to get my coffee and my cereal, take it to my chair in the living room and eat my cereal while reading my morning devotions.  My little doxie, Tootsie, would always sit quietly watching me, waiting for the moment I finished my bowl, because she loves to lap up any remaining milk, licking the bowl clean.
     This particular morning, however, she waited patiently as usual, but my cereal has Xylitol in it.  Most likely, it wouldn't have been enough left in the milk to hurt her, but I wasn't willing to risk her life on it. So I had to refuse what she wanted. Instead, I took the bowl to the kitchen out of her reach.  All for her own safety and well being. I couldn't let her lick the bowl.
     When I sat back down, she jumped onto my lap and got right in my face. It was almost as if she was begging me for it, and trying to convince me with a hug. I loved on her for a minute, reassuring her that I loved her, but had to withhold what she wanted for her own good.  But I'm sure she didn't understand.
     That's when it occurred to me that sometimes it can be like that between us and God.  Or at least me and God - I can't speak for you.  
     Sometimes circumstances in life change and things are different than they were before.  Maybe we want things to go back to the way they were.  Maybe someone or something is lost to us and we want them, or that, back.  Maybe we want something new and plead with God to give it to us.  But God withholds it. Why? We ask, and ask, but no . . . we don't get what we want.  We don't understand.
     Could it be that there may be some "ingredient" we're unaware of that could harm us? Or somehow lead to bad circumstances in our life?  What we want seems fine to us, but only God knows for sure.
     After Tootsie's attempt to pull at my heartstrings, she laid down on my lap and went peacefully to sleep.  She trusts me.  
     Do I trust God in my circumstances?  Do you?

Lord, help me to rest peacefully in Your sovereign care and love for me.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,    all whose thoughts are fixed on you!  (Isaiah 26:3  NLT)