Tough Love

Logan has a problem trusting that Jake and I do happen to know what we are talking about… When we tell him that something is not a good idea, he usually just ends up having to test the theory himself. I was reminded of this story tonight during our family devotions.

We have a Husky. His name is Diesel. This dog is a hyper psychopath and must be tethered. Otherwise, he will be galivanting all over Whittemore to lift his leg on anything he can find to claim as his own. We even laugh at him when we take him for walks because he will even claim a blade of grass or a branch with its leaves hanging a little too low. Where he is chained, he has access to the garage. One day last Summer, Jake and Logan were out there. I think Jake was cleaning the garage, and Logan was playing out there with him. I had told Logan multiple times that day to stay out of the reach of Diesel because his chain could trip him, and he could get hurt. Jake had also told him the same thing. I had gone to the store, and Jake told Logan over and over to stay out of Diesel’s reach. Eventually, Jake threw up his hands and told him, “Fine, don’t listen.” Sure enough, twenty minutes went by, and Diesel took Logan off his feet, and he hit his head on the garage floor. There were tears, and Jake always turns something into a lesson!

Tonight, during our family devotions Jake was reading the fourth chapter of First Samuel. This chapter discusses the disobedience of the Israelites and how God was not with them at this time due to their disobedience. Jake used an analogy of tough love. His analogy was hypothetical, and it took all that was in me NOT to interrupt to remind him of this story! There were many lessons that Jake applied to this chapter, not just tough love, but this was the one that I started writing!

Sometimes, God lets us struggle because we simply will not listen. He eventually throws His hands up and says, “Go for it!” because we do not want to listen. Just as Logan thought he knew best and would be fine if he kept running with Diesel, we do the same thing in our lives. Maybe it is someone we keep in close contact with who continually takes us away from Him. Maybe it is forcing our way into something that He has been trying to stop us from doing. We think we know better, though, and continue to run with the dog. We continue to disobey! The more we disobey, the more distance we create between ourselves and Christ, and eventually, He issues some tough love and allows us to suffer, then waits for us to call on Him for help.

Are you running with the dog? Do you need to listen to God and get rid of sin in your life? Do you need to close the distance between yourself and God and get right with Him?

1 Samuel 4:22 (KJV)

“And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.”