Who’s Got Control?

Posted on August 24, 2007
Filed Under Spirituality, Trusting God, Goals, Faith, Success |

My mother-in-love is out of town and when that happens that means we have her dog, Amos. Amos is a 5-pound (maybe) silky terrier with the personality of a hyper, excitable Bull Mastiff. His “let me please fetch the sock again, let me, let me fetch, again, again, please, fetch, again, fetch, sock, let me, again, please, sock, sock” personality is in stark contrast to our own dog, Jack, who is more content to sit at our feet while he licks himself, with his only excitable outbursts every morning at breakfast, when the doorbell rings, when Ry comes home on the weekend, or when Marc goes outside to enjoy a cigar and a glass of wine.

In spite of our best efforts, life slightly changes when Amos is around: most notably, our morning routine. Jack, as if waking every morning from a hard night’s labor, gets up (reluctantly at that) whenever we do, and, as you can imagine, wake-up times vary from say Monday mornings to Saturday ones. Not so much with Amos. Between 5:40 and 6:20 a.m., we are called to consciousness by the ringing of Amos’ collar. Ting-a-ling-a-ling . . . early in the morning. “Lay down, Amos.” I hear my husband say. Ting-a-ling-a-ling . . . to my side of the bed, then back to Marc’s. This goes on until either we win with a forceful “LAY DOWN“, or Amos does by his persistence.

It’s laughable - this itty bitty dog dictating our actions, our way of life, our doings. Laughable and sadly analogous to so much else in this life we live by faith. The eternal, all-knowing, all-consuming, all-powerful Spirit of God within me says that I can do all things, says that I’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessings, and that I am more than a conqueror. And yet there are areas of my life where the compromise to the Spirit of God within me is painfully obvious leaving me feeling that I can’t do anything right, that I’ve been cursed with lack, and that my only expectation is defeat. I can curse . . . too much. I can worry . . . too much. I can covet . . . too much. I can doubt . . . too much.

It’s humbling how a little compromise can have a big impact on my actions, my way of life, my doings, the same way Amos does with every sunrise, and leaves me questioning just who is in control in my life, me or the Spirit of God within me? Two grown human beings, or a 5-pound canine dictator?

Galatians 5: 22-24:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Today I desire for the Spirit within me to be in control. I intend to choose the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that is mine as the result. I don’t think that Amos will choose the same . . . he ain’t saved!

Peace and Blessings,

Nicole Walters