13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Reflection
How do I feel closest to God? Sometimes it’s when I take a prayer walk.
Other times it’s when my life is in chaos and all I can do is ask God to make things better, to fix it.
All I know is to put my hope in the Lord. Read Psalm 42:5: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.’
But mostly it’s my walks with God. My backyard in New Jersey is surrounded by woods and it is a good place to talk to my two dogs. I have learned many valuable lessons from God from my “prayer partners” on those walks.
My dogs are a dubious duo. The older dog is Rufus, a mutt with some hound mixed in there. I suppose he is the wiser of the pair. Bailey is a miniature dachshund who doesn’t realize he’s a miniature anything. He tips the scales at about 10 pounds. But don’t let his diminutive stature fool you. Just try harming me or my family. Bailey will tear your head off. Or at least he acts like he’d tear your head off.
Since we’re in the woods for much of our journey, and since we are usually all by ourselves, I don’t keep that dynamic duo on a leash. Instead, I let them run free. Rufus usually blazes the trail and Bailey follows.
Usually, Bailey doesn’t need my correction when he’s walking in front of me. He gets into trouble when he lags behind. Isn’t that the way it is with us? Don’t we get into trouble when we’re doing what we shouldn’t and not doing what we should?
But God keeps me in order. He’ll teach me a lesson or let me teach one to myself.
When Bailey is lagging, I try to stay right behind him and encourage him gently with my walking stick.
But that wasn’t the lesson Bailey taught me one day. He taught me as he forged ahead of me. I like to let him take the lead in front of me. I enjoy watching the way he proudly struts. And I enjoy watching when he gets a head of steam up and tries catching Rufus.
If Bailey gets about 10 yards ahead of me, many times even less, he stops, turns and waits until he sees and hears me reassure him before moving on.
It’s kind of like Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 30:21: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” And that’s the lesson Bailey taught me. Look to God during the good times and the bad.
It’s easy for me to look for God when all seems to be crashing down around me. But when everything is going well, when I seem to be ahead of the competition, unlike Bailey, I rarely turn around to look for my God or to give Him the credit for my success.
Instead, I should be like the writer of Psalm 105:4: “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.”
I always need God, through good times and bad. And that’s when I’m closest to Him.
by Rick Reed
For Pondering and Prayer
Just remember, we always have God. He made us to have a relationship with him, through good times and bad.
Prayer: Lord help me to have my daily prayer times with you. Let me never get too busy. Instead, let me remember that it’s You who I live for. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
