Joel M Bradshaw

[UPDATE: The dog has been found. God answered my children’s prayers! I like this blog post better now!–JMB]

9“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently…

15“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully…

23Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. 24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.–Deuteronomy 4

My family just adopted two loving older dogs. They are wonderful and are a delight to us. And we had a surprise anxiety moment this morning. One of the two dogs got loose and ran away. Those moments are all hands on deck. Kids, get your shoes on and hop in the car kinds of moments. I will focus on driving, you look in the yards we pass.

I had just begun this devotional when it happened. I now return after a long time calling and looking. After notifying the local police and posting on a lost dog social media page. After praying with my children. “Daddy can we pray for our doggie? God cares for us and will help us find her.”

If your brain is like mine, you will replay that moment when you left the door open just a little too much. She had given no clue that she was a runner. She always hung around my wife and I. Then all of a sudden she wiggled free and then like a dart she was down the street. The verbs in the passage today are what are going through my mind right now. Maybe if I had taken greater care. Maybe if I had kept watch. Maybe if I had been more diligent.

Honestly, what calms the anxious mind are the control questions. What can I control and what can I not? The things I can control, I need to honor God. The things I can’t, I need to trust God.

So, I can’t control what the dog did or where she has gone. I can’t control what will happen to her. I can’t control if a friendly neighbor or community resident will take her to the police station. I can’t control how my wife and kids will react regarding moving forward. Those are moments to trust God.

I can control my attitude and my reactions. How calm I am with my wife and kids regarding this. How diligent I am in searching. How not to let anger turn to bitterness over this situation. I can fight back the temptation to let shame creep in and begin to define how I think about myself.

So now that we read that our God is jealous and a consuming fire, it kind of motivates you to stay diligent, right? Keep the main things the main things?

What about you needs to start? What needs to stop? What areas of your life or your thoughts or your words or your attitudes are you more lax than diligent?

I can and must stay diligent about finding this dog. But far above that is my role as a husband and father. What I model now is key. How I trust God is key. Keeping a reign on frustration and anger.

Thank you for reading this post. It has felt a bit frantic to write. Those control questions are keeping me grounded right now.–JMB