February 8, 2012 Persistent Pursuit

February 8, 2012

Those of you who know me are getting a wee chuckle out of the fact that there is a dog in my picture of gratitude. Those of you who don't, I won't elaborate as you will wane in your estimation of me if you knew there might be a slight aversion to animals on my part.  This is Snickers and she is rather.....odd.  Saying that, she is a perfect fit for our family.  My children, in the not-to-distant-past, had a fear of dogs that would make the Boogie Man drool with envy.  They could literally scale a human to a precarious perch on one's shoulders should a playful puppy be within a mile of their presence.  So a non-verbal, anti-social, reclusive dog (she doesn't bark, withdraws from human contact and spend the majority of her life under my bed) was the perfect family pet for us.  All of that being said, Snickers has three moments a day when she will draw on all her courage to join our family - meal time.  The mere opening of the refrigerator is like a clearance sale for my husband....irresistible.  Under cover of table, she sits and waits for drops of food.  All fears seem to suddenly dissipate as any lap will suddenly do for human contact.  Today as she was begging food once again, I thought that she was a perfect visual for my thanksgiving.  There is a thread of the pursuit of a persistent walk with Christ that the Spirit has been teaching me lately.  I'm finishing Hebrews with the charges of considering Christ, running the race, avoiding the neglecting of my salvation, and fighting the drifting of my faith.  I'm sitting before him with prayers for others that seem at the end of human utterances.  My  Bible study women discussed the end of Hebrews 12 tonight, the seemingly long but beautiful process of the training of discipline that produces the peaceful fruits of righteousness.  So the continued clinging to Christ and tenacity of persistent prayer has been an instruction to my heart.  I rebel at this because I don't like long processes.  I want immediate answers, and frankly, it is very humbling to remain in a dependent state.  I look at Snickers every stinking day under the table and think, "Have you no pride dog? You have a bowl of dog food over there, what makes you think you should receive a scrap of steak?"  These thoughts make me think of the persistent friend (Luke 11:5-8) and the bothersome widow (Luke 18:5).  The Spirit-given gift to remain humbly persistent and to know the faithfulness of our Savior to us throughout every moment of this seemingly long life are beautiful gifts.  John Piper states, "There is a reason why Jesus not only calls us to simplicity and brevity, but also to persistency and tenacity.  The demand for prevailing prayer exposes those who pray in a passing way, as if they are just trying to cover all their bases.  They are not looking to God as their only hope.   They are trying God out alongside other resources.  Such praying does not prevail."  I'm so thankful to serve a God who not only demands that He is my only hope but also supplies the grace to walk in that persistently, daily depending on Him.  And by the way, I'm Snicker's favorite and I don't think that has any connection to the food I'm faithful to drop to the floor meal after meal.