Tom's Beach Adventure

This is Tom enjoying one of his favourite activities...sleeping on the lounge.  And yes, he rearranges the cushions so he is most comfortable.  He is about 11 and a half years old which is fairly old for a large dog.

Today, hubby and took Tom, to the off-leash beach area not far from where we live, for a swim.  A doggy poo bin with black bags was near the off leash area and I quickly grabbed a bag, shoved it in my pocket, just in case Tom had a call of nature, and then headed towards the water. 

Even though it’s an off-leash area, we kept Tom on the leash we walked into the water.  The poor old dog is a bit scared of moving water, and he wouldn’t have gone in past his toes otherwise.  For ten minutes, we chatted to Tom so he would feel safe, before making our way back to shore and letting him off the leash.   After a bit of exploration of the different smells near the edge of the sand, Tom stopped because ‘nature called’ and at that moment I was more than grateful I had a black plastic bag in my pocket. 

I was watching Tom and I got to thinking that sometimes God takes us to places where we can get scared or where we feel out of our depths. We might find ourselves facing a deep bay full of issues and we can feel overwhelmed. To us, the easiest solution is to stay on the safety of what we know, even if it’s not where God actually wants us to be.  

Over and over in The Bible, God promises that he will hold on to us through everything. When I feel overwhelmed by life, I try to remember His promises to me and it helps me hold my head up.  Often, when things seem beyond my scope, I lift my hands to God, tell Him I can’t do it and before I know it, He goes ahead of me and ends up doing something beyond anything I could have asked or imagined.  One of my favourite verses is Habbakuk 1:5 “I will do something in your day that you would not believe, even if you were told.”

I reckon, one of God’s favourite pastimes is to hold onto us so tightly that there is no chance we will drown in our own problems.  And then, along with His protection, He is happy to pick up our messes.   I don’t know about you, but the thought of a God who is so full of love for me that He will go out of His way to pick up my mess is nothing short of astounding.  And yet, we shouldn’t be astounded because that is how much He loves us. 

We don’t have to understand everything He does or says, but all He asks is that we trust Him with our hearts, our minds and our lives.