I don't know how they know it but our pets know when we need them. It's not like they can say anything. At least verbally. They can say more in a minute than I can say in this whole page. I know first hand as I am a pet owner who now am owned by my pets. It's hard getting my head around their ownership of me. Yet, they do. You probably know this to be true too! You have to admit that different pets use different means to do the same thing. Pet a cat backwards and you get a very different response than when you do the same with a dog. Ignoring a cat is meaningless but with a dog their heart is broken. Dogs beg. Cats make us beg. What happened?
We often become hitched with our pets in a state of need instead of giving the pet a better life. Once connected we become the needy one. Cats like that! Dogs still think they are the most fortunate animal on earth. Like us, they need something external that can be the object of our feelings. Dogs especially seem to be able to discern this need we humans have. Cats dangle the reward before us and then jerk it away when we reach for it. But then, we humans do that as well. Cats just do it better than we do.
Reflecting back to my counselor days I remember so many of the people who passed through my doors. The variety of problems carried the same amount of need. People felt like they could come to therapy, dump their frustrated needs and leave. Most received just that. Some picked up their problems and took the problems with them. Much like taking your empty casserole pan with you after a potluck. But the pan, like the problem, was empty. The people were tired and the pain of the day sat upon them. Some people find their therapy in a bottle. Other seek the diversion in drugs. Still others bury their efforts in one or two of the many addictions they carry. Some eat, some drive, some sleep and some read. It doesn't matter that it's a diversion from problems. As long as the pain goes away for a while.
We do have a God who understands. He sent his son to be a cure for our problems and needs. Jesus knows about pain, suffering, abandonment, and the like. So, why don't we trust him as we trust animals? Somehow, pets have moved to a place where secrets are kept. Embarrassment and pride are they greatest motivators to push aside life. In so doing we maintain our perceived status and fool others long enough for them to know that everything is okay when it isn't. No matter how big or small our problems are, we can bring them to our pet. Maybe not spiders. They are too scary! We receive the comfort we need (except with cats) and feel better even if they never say a word. Like Jesus pets can sense what we are feeling. He longs to be the one we bring our problems to. He is waiting for you and I to unload whenever and wherever we are. No conditions (like cats) to his listening and desire to help.
You may be thinking I don't like cats. You would be wrong. I'm just onto their game having been owned by cats in the past. I now have two dogs that love everyone more than they love me (sob sob). Here is the profit point. We have a God in heaven who loves us and wants us to receive love from him. We profit from our relationship with God in the past (through the forgiveness of our sins), in the present (as companion and friend), and in the future (heaven awaits those who belong to Him). I'm reminded of a story told to me. A friend had visited the middle east and was made aware (on a tour) of a sheep herder carrying a lamb on his shoulders. The lamb had a quasi cast on it's leg. The tour director told the group that the lamb had a problem obeying the shepherd and kept running away. So the shepherd broke the lambs leg and carried him until it healed. That way the lamb would be aware of who cares about them. When the lamb was healed the shepherd would put the lamb down. What had changed? The lamb was now a follower of the shepherd and would no longer run away. Not out of fear but out of love.
Jesus is the same way. Okay, no, he doesn't break our leg and then carry us (physically) to safety. He does allow us to bottom out and become dependent on Him. He is never far away and doesn't avoid or desert those who are his. We have instant communication with God. Why? Because he is a living God. He cares about us even when we don't care about him. If we are friends with God then why do we think we can live without him? He wants us to talk with him. He wants to listen to all of our stories. He wants to be trusted enough to work his will through our lives. He wants us to be his followers and to do the same.
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