Are You Listening For The Beep?

Our dog Missi has been a treasure in our lives for 4 years now.  She's a wire haired terrier mix and just has the greatest little personality.  She looks like a lighter colored Benji and we all fell in love with her immediately when she came to us.  Her only fault was if we ever let her outside off the leash, she would take off.  Bolting for the road, the neighbors' yards, the woods...wherever her nosey little doggy nose would take her.  She just had to go see what life had to offer outside of her own backyard. 

Realizing that she wasn't getting enough exercise on the leash, but fearing for her safety at the same time, (our last dog wandered into the road and was hit by a passing car), we recently installed an underground fence in the backyard.  You've seen the ads - it works with the dog's collar and sends a slight startling shock if the dog crosses the fence line.  Despite my daughter's fears and tears at the thought of Missi getting "shocked, "  we installed the fence. 

Little white flags were put up all along the path of where the fence had been buried to serve as a guideline.  We started out the first few days with Missi still on the leash, just letting her get the feel for her boundaries.  Then the leash came off - and she got shocked.  And my daughter cried.  Even though the collar beeps a few feet away from the fence line, she would still ignore that warning and try to cross the boundary line.  And a few times more she did.  And a few times more she got shocked.  And a few times more my daughter cried.

But then, after just a few days, Missi began to acknowledge her boundaries.  We'd watch as she would ease up close to the line, hear the warning beep and immediately back off.  It wasn't long before she wouldn't even come close to those little white flags!  Missi is much happier now (and so is my daughter). She can do all of her favorite things - be outside, run around in circles, play ball, stick her nose up into the air when the wind blows, chase squirrels, torture the cat...all without being on a short leash and all without being away from the safety of home.

Missi's collar works for her just as God's love works for us.  He wants us to live a life that we love. A  line from Max Lucado's Cure for the Common Life; Living in Your Sweet Spot reads,  "Your Father is too gracious to assign you to a life of misery."  How sweet is that!?  God wants us to have the life we dream of (remember, He gave us those dreams), and He wants us to be able to do the things we love - within certain boundaries.  And when we cross that boundary line, don't we get shocked?  It may not be by a literal collar around our neck, but you can bet there's going to be pain.  And God is so gracious that He even gives us a "warning beep" just like Missi's collar.  It's called the Holy Spirit; our conscience.  We know when we're about to do something we shouldn't be doing.  The Holy Spirit will speak to us, will caution us, will give us a warning beep.  Yet instead of heeding that warning alarm and turning back into the yard where it's safe, sometimes we choose to ignore it and cross over the line anyway.  And we get shocked. 

I think what alot of people don't realize is that God's love for us - and the boundaries that He sets up for us and warns us about crossing - are for our own protection.  He knows what lies outside those boundaries.  He knows if we get out of the backyard we can get in trouble with the neighbors or worse - get into the road and get ran over.  Just like with Missi's underground fence, the boundaries God sets for us are for our own good.  Not because He wants to control us or confine us, but because He loves us and doesn't want to see us get hurt. 

Learning to live within the beautiful backyard God has created for us is sometimes a challenge.  Like with Missi, it takes time for us to learn to listen for the beep and back away.  Yet when we realize that within those boundaries is where life is the sweetest and the safest, we realize how great it is there.  You may not choose to chase after squirrels or torture the cat or stick your nose up into the wind, but you can definitely find your dream life - your sweet spot - even in your own backyard. 

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." ~ Psalm 37:4 NIV



Question of the day:  Have you learned to live happily within your boundaries or are you still getting shocked?  Are you ignoring the warning beeps?