Not learning to fetch…

Today I tried teaching Frankie and Ellie to fetch. They’re Chihuahuas so I didn’t know if they’d be able to get the process as easily as Sandy, our chocolate lab, did. I threw one of their toys and Ellie eagerly ran after it, but then stopped half-way back to play with it. She eventually brought it near me, so I took it and threw it again, and again she eagerly ran after it, but wandered around with it, instead of bringing it back. I finally gave up.

So, it occurred to me that the problem was that Ellie wasn’t connecting me throwing the toy, with her enjoyment of running after it. And I wondered how many things in my life I really enjoy, but only happen occasionally, because I am not connecting cause and effect, nor comprehending the connection in spite of God’s effort to get me to see it. It’s only within the past year or so that I discovered the amazing cause and effect between prayer and conquering faults. The purpose of prayer is for us to be reminded of God’s provision–He already knows what we need and want. So I added “Please help me to overcome my laziness,” to my daily prayer. I don’t consider myself terribly lazy, but I did notice that I would too often opt not to do something that needed to be done because I thought it would be too difficult. There wasn’t an immediate change, but after a few months I did notice that I was more easily able to dive into something I previously would have avoided.

I never considered the cause and effect of prayer like that, because I assumed if I wanted to improve myself I should just do it. I now wonder how many other cause an effect links I still need to discover.

—Danny

“Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.”—Psalms 25:4