Molly and I are aging! You can see it by the whitening of our hair, Molly on her muzzle and paws and me on my head. However, with aging comes new experiences of togetherness and closeness. We’ve been together for almost nine years.
Molly loves my presence. She doesn’t fuss when I leave her for a while but her “welcome home” greeting is extravagant to the extreme, no matter how long or short my time away might be. Time has no significance for her. She measures her desire for my return by the level of her delight, expressed in squeals and wriggles.
Sometimes, in the evening, when I am in the shower and she is resting on her bed in the lounge, I hear her call…not in words but in her special bark, “Where are you?” or, “Please fetch me,” if she is in the garden. I answer with reassuring calls of my own…”I’m in the shower, baby,” or “I’m coming!” if I’m inside. She stops barking, and is content to wait for me knowing that I’m nearby.
She likes to feel my closeness at night by resting her head on my leg or lying against my body. No matter how hot the night, my warmth, my presence comforts her. To her, sleeping in her own bed is a sign of my displeasure to which she reacts by sulking!
Molly submits to the many times she needs treatment for one or other ailment. Her periodic ear infections are a particular trial to both of us, for me because I must treat her ear with drops, and for Molly because she hates the long nozzle and the cold stuff I must squirt into her ears. We have finally reached a truce because she trusts me.
Sometimes, before it’s time for a bath, I rub her tummy with hand cream or sprinkle baby powder of her to mask her doggy smell. She lies in my arms like a small baby and submits to Mama’s “whims”with silent resignation.
All these actions and gestures are part of the “presence” that is so special to both of us, even those things I do for her good if not for her pleasure.
In the Word, I read of my Lord’s assured presence, of even greater significance than my presence in Molly’s life.
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV
How often, in times of crisis, have I looked for reassurance in the amount of money I have rather than in my God. How foolish is that!
There is something about God’s promise that has recently become more real to me than ever before. Having watched, on YouTube, some of the the many stories of ex-Muslims who, in their crisis time of need, have met Jesus in person, I have realised that He didn’t just “show up” when they called on Him. He was there, with them until they called, but He only revealed Himself in their realm when they called.
This truth has changed the way I respond to His promise…
“…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20b NIV
I don’t need to ask Him to come when I call. He is already here, unseen, but with me, every moment, day or night. In fact, in the person of His Spirit, Jesus is in me! Get that! When Molly needs me, I must go to her. When I need Jesus, He is not even a heartbeat away.
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”…
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.”
Psalms 139:7-12, 17-18 NIV
Not even sleep can separate me from His presence. Amazing as it seems, I’m always on His mind… and so are you.