I’ve learned quite a bit from having dogs in my life whether they were strays at the shelter, other’s pets, or my own. One of the qualities I most embrace is their openness and ease with who they are; there is never any pretense with a dog. There is no hidden agenda or sly smiles; just reality staring you, sniffing you, licking you, right in the face.
“For I the Lord do not change;” (Malachi 2:3). We often talk about the need for stability in our lives. We long for friends we can rely on; ones that will be who they say they are which is one of the reasons I think we are so drawn to dogs. We desperately seek some semblance of assurance but the Bible warns us that anything we seek in this world to supply that stability will one day be gone.
“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and
they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years
have no end.” (Ps. 102: 26,27)
When it comes to my dog, Deion, there’s is one thing I can always count on. If he sees a squirrel, I will cease to exist. And it never fails, the later I am for something, the more squirrels in the backyard to garner Deion’s attention. My neighbor’s often witness me trying to wrangle my dog in with pleas and chunks of chicken as Deion races around me with steadfast focus on his agenda, not mine. I love to imagine a world where Deion suddenly stops in his tracks and thinks to himself, “This behavior is pointless, she’s right. I’ll never catch the squirrel so I should just change this crazy notion and become exactly who she wants me to be to make her life easier.” But he can’t. It’s not in his nature. If Deion is going to go after a squirrel, he’s going to do it in my backyard as quickly as he would if he were standing center ring at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. It’s who he is, the nature of his being. He doesn’t change depending the circumstances or who is watching. He’ll openly humble me and my feeble attempts at flexing my dog training muscle no matter who is present.
Sadly, even our old predictable dogs don’t live forever. Life in this world is full of changes, good and bad. Yet, thankfully, “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8). God’s nature of gentle compassion, majesty, goodness, patience with his wayward children--that would be us--final judgement on all, divine mercy, and abundant grace that he showers upon those who believe, will never change. He can’t help but be who he is. The one constant in which we can put all our hope. The God who created the small black squirrel who teasingly darts from tree to tree just outside our fence line is the same God who created my crazy, mixed-up Doberman who will bark and run a rut through the back of the yard in a rage of frustration. As always, the squirrel will cackle in that mocking sound that resembles laughter and I smile at the predictability of it all. I can’t help but think that God gets a kick out of it too.
