My dog Henry is like many other dogs in many ways. He doesn't understand why he has to be on a leash, he doesn't quite understand why he can't walk in the street. He can be trained to ring a bell to go outside when nature calls, and he can sit, lay down, and shake hands for treats. But beyond that he is not very trainable. He couldn't possibly understand how the house we live in was built, or how food makes its way into our house every week and into his bowl. He just accepts it while lying in my wife's lap of luxury. We treat him very well. Even when we are upset at him for doing something he shouldn't have, like eat a hamburger left in the backseat of the car that was supposed to be my lunch, or bark at regular people walking in front of our house on a quiet evening. Even after doing these things, we punish him in certain ways, which he doesn't understand, and he couldn't possibly understand why five minutes later, we are petting him again.
The thing is we understand so much more than Henry does, and we would do anything to help him. Last year he had surgery on his knee because he couldn't bare weight on it because of a torn ligament. We take him on walks because we know he loves to walk and smell things, and experience what should be his natural environment. We understand why these things are good for him, and why certain things are bad for him, and luckily he's in our care so he is as safe as we can make him. He does have a free will to make choices that are either good or bad. We can't force him to make a decision. We can just train him, discipline him, shower him with love and affection, and hope that he settles in to that love and affection and makes the best choices he can with the limited knowledge he has.
God's infinite wisdom is the thing that we can't fathom. We couldn't possibly understand why he allows us to go through certain struggles or experience certain successes. Sometimes we don't understand why he might want us to stay away from something that he considers Sin or Wrong, while we might try to find a justification or a reason it might be okay. God trains us and showers us with love and affection but we have a free will and a knowledge that is infintely smaller than his. Just as Henry trusts us for his sustainence and his comfort, we need to trust God for our very existence, our next breath, our next meal, etc. We couldn't possibly understand how God could be upset with us for something we've done and five minutes later allow us back into his graces. Humility is something I need to excercise because I realize that I couldn't fathom God's mind in a billion years. All the things in my personal life and in this world I can't fix, understand, or comprehend, are left up to God's judgement, justice, wisdom, Omnicience, Omnipresence, and most importantly, his Grace. Thank God for his grace, his Son, and his willingness to love us, watch us play, learn, live, grow, and be. He is not a tyrant, nor is he a commander. He is a King who loves his children and treats them with the Love that only the Creator of all things could. Thank you God for being so much more than I can ever be.
The thing is we understand so much more than Henry does, and we would do anything to help him. Last year he had surgery on his knee because he couldn't bare weight on it because of a torn ligament. We take him on walks because we know he loves to walk and smell things, and experience what should be his natural environment. We understand why these things are good for him, and why certain things are bad for him, and luckily he's in our care so he is as safe as we can make him. He does have a free will to make choices that are either good or bad. We can't force him to make a decision. We can just train him, discipline him, shower him with love and affection, and hope that he settles in to that love and affection and makes the best choices he can with the limited knowledge he has.
God's infinite wisdom is the thing that we can't fathom. We couldn't possibly understand why he allows us to go through certain struggles or experience certain successes. Sometimes we don't understand why he might want us to stay away from something that he considers Sin or Wrong, while we might try to find a justification or a reason it might be okay. God trains us and showers us with love and affection but we have a free will and a knowledge that is infintely smaller than his. Just as Henry trusts us for his sustainence and his comfort, we need to trust God for our very existence, our next breath, our next meal, etc. We couldn't possibly understand how God could be upset with us for something we've done and five minutes later allow us back into his graces. Humility is something I need to excercise because I realize that I couldn't fathom God's mind in a billion years. All the things in my personal life and in this world I can't fix, understand, or comprehend, are left up to God's judgement, justice, wisdom, Omnicience, Omnipresence, and most importantly, his Grace. Thank God for his grace, his Son, and his willingness to love us, watch us play, learn, live, grow, and be. He is not a tyrant, nor is he a commander. He is a King who loves his children and treats them with the Love that only the Creator of all things could. Thank you God for being so much more than I can ever be.
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