Three or four times a week I exercise my niece’s border collies because I know how much the dogs love playing in the middle of the day when everyone is away at work.
One day last week, the dogs had been running around chasing the Frisbee for several minutes. All was going well until I let it sail as a gust of wind blew. It landed in my brother’s small utility trailer. I chuckled and wondered which dog would go into the trailer and pick it up. None did. They looked at me then back at the Frisbee. I walked over and encouraged them to go after it. The older male decided it was safe and retrieved the toy.
How often am I like those dogs? God’s command is reasonable, but at the moment it is a few inches out of my comfort zone. Like all good Christians say they will do when they are being asked to do something they really do not want to do, I pray with the hope that I misunderstood God’s direction.
The dogs stood looking at a task that I knew had a simple solution. I wondered if I am like them. Do I stand and look around for someone else to do the work God has given me because I do not know how to handle the task? Or am I like the dog, who with a little encouragement, followed a command to act in that situation?
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27
Will I obey God in the current challenge he has given me? Will I step out of my comfort zone and act?