God speaks.
In the Bible, He spoke through angels, prophets, leaders, dreams, a burning bush, and even a donkey.
In Jeremiah 33:3, God spoke these wonderful words: “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things you do not know.” When we ask Him to speak to us, He most definitely will. Sometimes in the most unusual ways.
This will probably sound crazy…
When my beloved rescued a puppy on the side of the road two months ago, it seemed that the Lord had orchestrated the whole thing. It was unexpected and changed everything. Still, it felt completely right. I asked God to teach me lessons about Him through our new addition: Dixie (name of rescued pup). He has.
A few weeks ago, Dixie had a surgical procedure that required her to wear a cone for several days. She ran into walls, cabinets, and furniture, not understanding what was going on. I didn’t appreciate it.
Dixie’s cone reminded me of my helmet of salvation. It’s part of the armor of God that Ephesians 6 talks about. (I sometimes go through the actual motions of putting a helmet in place.) Putting on my helmet of salvation keeps my mind at ease, keeps me from overthinking, protects me from worrying.
When Dixie goes outside, she has to be on a leash. We live close to the road and do not want her to be hit by a car. The leash is not to hurt her but to keep her safe. She can’t be trusted to go wherever she wants.
I’m not on a leash but have the Holy Spirit that keeps me in check. My daily prayer is to be filled with and led by the Holy Spirit. I ask the Lord to guide me, embolden me, hush me, and hold me back as needed.
This morning, I took Dixie out to use the bathroom. At 4 a.m., it was still dark. Her stomach began making weird noises. She began to heave and suddenly threw up in the grass. She was just about to eat it when I pulled her away.
A few steps across the yard, Dixie threw up again. Before I could stop her, she ate it ALL.
I let her walk around a bit, but over and over she kept going back to the spot where she spewed. “Why do you keep going back to that?” I asked her, completely grossed out. Dixie did not respond. Why in the world would a dog return to its vomit? Not too smart of her.
But…when I think about it, how many times do I go back/return/revisit things that are not good for me? Focusing on mistakes from the past, hurt feelings, burdens I can’t seem to let go, fear of failure. I’m not much smarter than Dixie.
Does God speak to you in unusual ways? Call on Him and He will answer. It’s the gospel truth. I’m finding when I pay attention, God can use all kinds of ways to speak to me. Even a dog.