Moses and Mickey

"Sit Molly, Sit Makena, Sit Mickey."  I was struggling to manage the "Jan's home" chaos.  It seems that when I come home from work, the three dogs compete for the loudest bark of welcome.  It's a stiff competition which has resulted in a few dog fights.  So the pack leaders, Dick and Jan, have designated this past week as "Crackdown".  No excitement and rough play. We are going to master the "Sit" command.

I usually have to follow Molly around as she tries to avoid her submission to my command. Makena is right in front of me so it's easy  to get to her.  Needless to say, it is chaos and I'm thankful Dick has never learned to post to YouTube.  It's the real life craziness that inspires sit-coms!   

On Day  Four of Crackdown Week, in the midst of the daily chaos I noticed Mickey.  In spite of the competition, chaos and chase, he was calmly sitting, just like I'd commanded. He hadn't received a second command, a reminder, an enforcement or a praise.  He was just doing as he was told.

At the beginning of the week, I'd read Deuteronomy 32:48-52.  Moses had just finished giving the Israelites all the laws and decrees with an impassioned plea to take them to heart.  On the same day God tells Moses to go to the mountains to view the Promised Land and die.  God reminds him that he's not going to enter the Promised Land because he broke faith with Him in front of the Israelites at Meribah Kadesh.

I'd been pondering this end of life story.  Would I want to know it's my time to die?  Did God really need to remind Moses of his big failure?   What a downer portion of scripture to ponder!

 Then I remembered Mickey, patiently and quickly, following my command.  In contrast to what I think Moses should have done.  I had thought Moses should have made a good case before the Lord to show his overall pattern of obedience was good enough and God should change the verdict.  He'd served his forty year  sentence shepherding whiners and complainers.  Wasn't that enough punishment?   I would have begged and pleaded.  I would have been like Molly barking and demanding.

Then I remembered Mickey sitting in the midst of the barking and competing of daily life. "Good boy, Mickey!"

Mickey is the clueless one of the three dogs.  Mickey doesn't understand why he has to sit while my  attention is consumed by the females. Mickey doesn't understand the "big picture".  We have not accomplished our mission with Mickey.  He may be the best at the "sit" command in the midst of chaos but Mickey has his faults, a sudden bark that restarts your heart, an affinity for destroying pens and shoes and he wants my spot on the couch!  Yet his obedience on Day Four gave me a glimpse at the future and encouragement that one day my dogs will obey.

We have cracked down on their behavior for their protection.  Those dog fights could  escalate and we love all three dogs.  We are looking into the future and shaping their behavior so we can all get along. Mickey obeys, at least in this instance, because he trusts us.

I need to rethink my thoughts on what Moses should have done because Moses was getting his release and reward.  He was going to be "gathered to his people" and be free of the whiners and complainers.  God was in charge of the home going!  Moses had fulfilled his mission and the end was in sight.  Maybe this was God giving him a glimpse into  the future so he'd finish well.

If God is in control of my life and days, and He knows and controls the big picture, maybe I should follow His plan and enjoy my life.  What makes me think I know better than God?  In spiritual matters, I'm really just like Mickey, clueless.  I have my faults too (I listed Mickey's but not mine!) but I am sure that God loves me anyway.  Others, like Molly, may demand God's attention.  I know that in life's most chaotic moments, God is with me,  asking me to obey.

This week I learned a lesson from Moses and Mickey:  in the midst of life's chaos, just do what God says.