I can prove that God has a sense of humor and that He expresses it throughout His creation. I always thought it hilarious that the smallest of dogs tend to be the boldest. Three pound Chihuahuas are known to throw their weight around so to speak in ways that many larger dogs would not dare- and they will challenge far larger and more powerful dogs without a thought. Our friends' Chihuahua will storm up and challenge our 65# Belgian Malinois as if he were prepared and ready to have her for breakfast. Thankfully, gentle Clara simply gives him a quizzical head tilt as if to say, "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?" and she politely walks away. Obviously Scooter (the plucky little Chihuahua) doesn't understand the size difference between him and Clara, nor does he know that in one snap of her mouth, should she choose to do so, he would be prancing and yapping no more.
Sometimes we react to this world like Scooter- throwing our weight around and taking on much larger challenges than we can ever effectively deal with. We think that we can carry every burden and vanquish every foe, even when the burden is far too heavy for us to carry alone, and the foe is far more deadly than we had anticipated.
I hate to admit it but more often than not I have that rogue Chihuahua mentality. I also hate to admit it but I see a parallel in Clara's response to ankle-biter angst. "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?" She knows that a little creature like Scooter is just as vulnerable as the squirrels that she and Lilo chase and occasionally kill, (they are dogs, after all,) but his little display must entertain her in some way. I also believe that she refrains from harming smaller dogs and cats because she knows that they are also loved and esteemed by the humans who bring food and comfort, and she may just have some empathy for them.
Throughout Scripture we see examples of people who must have appeared to God to be annoying, yappy ankle-biters at times. When Elijah hid in the cave as Jezebel was chasing after him, he cried to God- "Am I the only one left?" as if he were carrying the full burden of being the only faithful person left. (1 Kings 19) God came to him to provide him with rest, shelter and a meal to equip him for the journey, to show him that indeed he was not alone, and that he had help in carrying the weight that he had been called to bear.
Jonah was probably one of the biggest whiners of the Old Testament- railing at God when a plant that God raised up for shade died, leaving him to bake in the hot sun.
4:5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. 4:6 And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil case. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd. 4:7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered. 4:8 And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. 4:9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. 4:10 And Jehovah said, Thou hast had regard for the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 4:11 and should not I have regard for Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
We try to pretend as if we have far more broad shoulders than we really do, and that we have the capacity to influence the hand of God with our petulant rages. The bottom line is He is both the Author and Finisher of creation, having infinite love and empathy for both the little dog and the big dog.
Like Jonah I know I don't always see beyond the shelter of the plant that shades me until I realize that shelter is gone. No matter how I yap and prance, God calls me to look beyond my own burden and understand that HE is the One Who provides shelter, rest and sustenance. Apart from taking up His yoke (yes, Pastor Doug, I was paying attention to yesterday's sermon on Matthew 11:28-30) we can't pull the dead weight. Some of that dead weight needs to be tossed, agreed- through surrender and confession, but even then, unless we agree to be connected to Jesus, to walk with Him, the weight of life upon our shoulders is simply too much to bear.
I am amazed at Jesus, Whose broad shoulders carried the dead weight of the Cross precisely so we would not be crushed under burdens we were not designed to carry. The same God Who sheltered Elijah and gave him food and strength when he was being chased down by an enemy he could not defeat alone shelters us, walks with us and carries our burden right along with us- the same God, Who, if He chose to, could simply will us out of existence.
Jesus had to do absolutely nothing, yet He did absolutely everything from creation to salvation to our shelter and provision.
Why do I find myself still trying to drag that dead weight? My shoulders were never made to be that broad.
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