Tag Archives: Molly

MOLLY AND ME – SAFELY INSIDE

Christian Life, ,

Every morning, at the crack of dawn, I take Molly outside to empty her “tanks” after a night of sleep. She moons around, looking for the right place, with exactly the right smell, to do what she must do!

When she has successfully accomplished her business, she continues to mosey around in the garden to ensure that everything is exactly as she left it the night before.
Sometimes she stays outside for quite a while.

Although we live in a secure place, I still feel a little restless until she is safely inside. She is a small, defenseless little animal. Raptors flying around in our area are known to have carried off pets from their own garden. I can rest again when she appears at the door after her surveillance mission.

How like our Father in heaven! He may not be restless, as I am, until we are safely at home with Him but He certainly watches over us until it’s time to call us from this earth.

He has pledged to guard us, not only from the evil world around us but also from the evil nature within.

‭Jude 1:24-25 NLT‬
[24] Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. [25] All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.

‭Psalms 121:3 NLT‬
[3] “He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.
[5] The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
[7] The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. [8] The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”

‭Psalms 91:9-12 NLT‬
[9] “If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, [10] no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. [11] For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. [12] They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.”

And so many more promises of His love, care, and protection.

‭Philippians 1:6 NLT‬
[6]” And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Among His many promises to care for and protect us is this one. Not only does He guarantee His protection from harm and danger in this life, but He also promises to finish what He started. We WILL BE TRANSFORMED into the image of Jesus for, when we see Him, we shall be like Him.

‭1 John 3:2 NLT‬
[2] “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

It can’t get better than that!

‭Psalms 116:15 NIV‬
[15]”Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.”

I wonder why He wrote these words in Scripture. Does He mean that He is happy when His children are safely inside?

I think so.

MOLLY AND ME – GLOOMY DAYS

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MOLLY AND ME – GLOOMY DAYS

Molly loves cold, rainy days! Her favourite spot is on my lap under the red “blankie”, soaking up the warmth we make together.

Now don’t get me wrong. Molly is a sun worshipper. Like a little reptile that can’t get moving until it has been re-energized by the sun, Molly lies stretched out on a scrap of carpet, soaking up the sun on the hottest of summer days.

However, no carpet, no matter how soft and comfortable, can take Mom’s place when it comes to closeness and companionship. Her dead weight on my legs and a gentle snore tell me that she is totally at peace.

Father God invites me, on gloomy days when my world is caving in around me, when the storm rages outside, to stretch out on His “lap” under the red “blankie” of His presence and feel the warmth of His love. There is peace in the shadow of the Almighty – the calm assurance that He will be now what He has always been then.

You see, because God is the source of all light, He cannot cast a shadow… but, though I cannot see His “front”, where He is going with me, I can see His “back”, where we have been. My past stretches out before me as an unending testimony to His faithfulness.

In this I can rest, knowing that He works in all things for my good because He knows where He is taking me. Gloomy days no longer make me insecure and afraid because I rest on the lap of my perfect Father.

MOLLY AND ME – MISTRUST

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Molly, my two-year-old “worsie”, has a severe allergy problem. What a struggle to find out what is causing her itching, scratching, biting, licking behaviour! My heart goes out to her in her distress.

Now, Molly is used to being spoiled. She believes that she is entitled to a tidbit of everything I eat. Of course, I taught her this habit by sharing my treats with her, but now that we are trying to isolate her allergens by trial and error, I have to deny her all the bits and pieces she was used to in an effort to save her from her perpetual scratching.

However, it does not please her to be denied what she believes to be her right! At first, she sat expectantly in front of me with a look on her face that said, “I know you’ll share your treats with me…” to “Why aren’t you sharing your treats with me?” to “Why are you being so selfish?” to a stance of resigned disappointment, looking away as though I am the worst piece of “worsie” owner in the world!

Now, Molly only speaks “dog” and I only speak English, so how in the world am I supposed to make her understand that I am not being cruel to her? I am being both loving and kind by denying her what is harmful and causes her distress. Despite her feelings of cruelty and betrayal, I must persevere until I find the cause of her malady.

This interaction between Molly and me makes me think of God’s ways with us. He has given us instructions and guidelines in His Word for living “allergy-free” lives in a world full of options that cause us discomfort and distress. However, unlike my difficulty in communicating with Molly, God has given us a very special gift – His Holy Spirit who lives in us and teaches us the meaning, importance and value of His instructions. We don’t need a special language to understand Him because He communicates with us, spirit to spirit.

God knows that sin of any kind, sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit, are dangerous and destructive. His passion is for us, through obedience to His Spirit, to live distress-free lives so that we can grow and flourish as members of His family and citizens of His kingdom in a world that is falling apart and destroying itself by its ever-increasing sinfulness.

God’s love for His children is perfect. When He disciplines us through hardships of denies us the “treats” we think we deserve, He is not being harsh or cruel; He is protecting us from what will eventually destroy us.

All He wants from us is trust in His love so that we don’t fret and fume over what He denies us, just as I want Molly to trust me when I don’t give her what she demands. God, our Father, regards our faith as more precious than gold. If our trust in Him is that valuable, don’t you think that He would be worthy of our confidence in Him to make the right choices for us?

MOLLY AND ME – ALLERGIES

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Molly has developed a skin condition which the vet and I are still trying to identify and treat. She has an allergic reaction to something, but the question is….what? It could be from the environment or from her food. When it’s really bad, the poor little thing scratches and licks continually and she breaks out in a nasty rash. She has been treated with cortisone twice that has temporarily relieved her problem, but I am looking for a permanent solution.

Now….the big problem is that Molly is spoilt! Yes, I know it’s my fault. Like all dogs, she adores treats. Biltong (dried meat) is her all-time favourite with chicken coming in a close second. Now that she’s on a strict diet of pellets made of duck and rice, she thinks her world has come an end. She gazes mournfully and hopefully at me when I eat what she used to share with me. She is thoroughly convinced that I no longer love her. If only I could get her to understand that it’s because I love her that I withhold everything that could trigger her allergy again.

Isn’t that just like our interaction with God? He knows far better than we do what is good for us and what is not good for us. We beg and plead, and sulk when we can’t get our way, complaining that God doesn’t love us while, in the meantime, He is protecting us from the very things that will destroy us.

Take, for example, His laws about adultery, fornication, theft, murder etc. Although we may never do these things in real life, what about the times when we do them in our hearts, wishing fervently that God would turn His head away for a moment? Even if we are not tempted by the grosser sins in life, there are many things we do that are destructive to ourselves and to those we love: greed, jealousy, anger, resentment, bitterness, and so on.

Jesus offered us the kind of rest that frees us from shame and guilt if we would just live in union with Him. Indulging in the appetites of our flesh, like Molly would love to do if I gave in to her, does nothing but trigger spiritual “allergies” which are uncomfortable and irritating.

Let’s heed Jesus’ invitation to learn from Him so that we can live free from habits and practices that harm us and produce rifts between us and our Father and us and our fellow men.

MOLLY AND ME – NEUTRALISING THE ENEMY

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When Molly and I began our daily walks, I noticed that she regarded every passer-by; jogger, cyclist, pedestrian, dog walker, employee from the nearby supermarket, casual visitor from out-of-town, and even the guard dogs in the properties on the way, as potential enemies. She would “see them off”, big or small, with a flurry of barks and yelps.

However, as the months passed, she has become selective in her enmity, depending on the reaction of the stranger concerned. Some stop to talk to her, some laugh at her enthusiastic defence of her owner and some squawk or jump away in fear at her bravado. It is to the ones who show fear that she reacts the most, trying her best to attack (naturally from behind), against the constraint of the harness and leash with which I control her.

Now, I would never call Molly a devil or compare her antics with the devil’s devices but, as I strolled along and pondered her behaviour, a thought came to me. In an uncanny way, Molly is able to recognise fear and capitalise on it to intimidate any person who happens in her path exuding (to a dog), the odour of fear.

Our enemy, the devil does the same to us on a spiritual level. Fear is one of his most potent weapons to lure us off track in our walk with the Lord…and he can smell fear a mile away and he is quick to respond.  He is subtle in his suggestions when we are faced with an intimidating situation. What if…? Is God really for me? Did He really promise…? Does He love me? Does He even exist?

Before we know it, our confidence in the love and care of a Heavenly Father is engulfed in the clouds of doubt and fear. We view our Father through the troubles we face and we either don’t see Him at all or He seems far away and out of touch with our very real problems.

When Molly and I walk, I have her firmly under control in a harness and leash which restrain her every effort to do harm to a stranger. She can make noises to deal with the “enemy”, but she can’t touch them as long as I have her in hand.

Despite what we may feel or think, the Father also has the enemy of our souls firmly in His grip. He promised that we would never be tested beyond what we can handle (1 Cor. 10:13). He is not only our place of safety but also the source of everything we need. Our role is to neutralise the enemy by refusing to give way to fear. When fear comes knocking on the door, the truth of God’s promises will keep the door of our hearts closed to the lies of the enemy.

The battle between fear and faith takes place in our minds. We must first redirect our thoughts from the uncertainties of fear to the security of God and His truth. Replace the lies with the truth by purposefully focusing on what He has said, not what the devil suggests.

From there, it’s easy because God takes over and His power kicks in to bring a conclusion to the matter at hand.