Washing Puppies

It is difficult to live the life He has called us to.

It takes work.

It means living in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called.

Sometimes it’s not fun.

Sometimes it’s draining.

Sometimes it’s the thing you would least like to do.

And most times…it’s easier to give up than to persevere and ultimately gain victory over the struggle.

I just went through a season where it would have been easier to give up than fight. Where I was being tested—to see what I was made of and who I would follow—and some days I would win and other times I’d falter. The faith in me was being tested and purified like gold. I needed the test. I hated the test. I wish I could have done anything but the test.

And in the end, the enemy taunted me. He tried to remind me of who I used to be so that I would forget who I am and what I am called to. He attempted to turn it all over as though none of the good and the healing and the power of the Lord that had been shown off in my life could be seen. He made a fool out of me.

But the thing is…God uses the foolish things of the world.

As we washed puppies this summer, God was teaching me a lesson. It’s easy to get down on yourself as you realize the muck you and others are walking through. It kind of makes you want to plop down and quit. Our puppies created a minefield of $@&* (pardon the language) that we had to clean up every morning. It sometimes took two grown people two hours to do it (two HOURS!? That’s a lot!). It never failed, we went to sleep at night and in the morning, they had created so much poop that each one of them had their little paws covered in it.

But as I bathed them, I didn’t resent it. I knew they were—at the simplest level—purely a product of their own environment and %$#@ happens, we all know that! But what I was being taught…whole ‘nother level.

I love those puppies, like you love anything you care for. As I washed them, I loved them. As I scrubbed poop off their paws I talked to them and held them gently. There was never a moment I was frustrated with them for what they had gotten themselves into. I knew their worth and because of that, I didn’t mind seeing them through the whole cleaning process.

It is the same in our walk with the Lord. It’s so easy to condemn ourselves—and Satan pushes us to do that, so it’s even easier. Nothing in you (unless you tune in to the Lord completely) will remind you of your priceless value—but He always will.

I see Him taking tender care of me, as I did for my puppies. “What did we get our feet in this time?” “Remember who you are and the price I paid for you. I know you’re worth it—and for love of you, I gave my son.” “This isn’t so bad, and remember, His blood is enough, even for this.” “Don’t pretend like you got me whipped, kid! I planned for this long before you were ever born and no matter how long this process takes, I’m in this with you.”

The astonishing faithfulness of the Lord wrecks me again.

His love covers you, no matter what you’ve done or the $%#@ you’re walking through today. Mess happens. We get stuck in situations that coat us in muck. But it just doesn’t end there. As we keep presenting ourselves to the Lord, He washes us clean, every time. It’s what He promised. He did it first with Peter and He’ll continue with all those who are His disciples.

May the blood of the Lamb wash over you again today, making you clean. He did it for you. He loves you. He sees us through.

John 13 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ² During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, ⁴ rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,^[a] but is completely clean. And you^[b] are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”