Reason #981
This has been one of those weeks were I looked up and realized tomorrow is Friday. I am not a fan of weeks where my evening schedule is out of whack. It throws everything off. I knew we wouldn't be having dinner at home this week, so I skipped going to the store. The up side is that, well, I didn't have to go to the store, cook, or clean dishes this week. The down side is that I've eaten out more meals than I prefer.
Scout and I went by Chick-fil-A to pick up dinner. We pulled up to the drive-thru and the little cashier was impressed with Scout. She said, "What a cute dog!" as she reached into the box of Milkbones. She held a treat out the window for Scout who was more than excited to receive it. I thanked her for the treat and tried to settle down my eager dog. Scout loves treats. Really, she loves anything I feed her. She doesn't care what it is. As long as it is coming from my hand, she deems it good.
I knew she wasn't going to wait until we got home to eat her treat. She had her nose stuck to my hand in an attempt to pry open my fist and for that Milkbone goodness. The only problem was that the Milkbone was too big for her to eat. Scout has a tiny mouth. She's used to eating morsels, and she doesn't attempt to bite off more than she can chew. In fact, if she bites down on something that she thinks is too hard, she'll spit it out. She doesn't try to crunch it into smaller pieces. She just looks at it with a bit of disappointment on her face and waits for someone to break into more manageable pieces for her.
As we drove home, I broke her treat into small pieces. I'd break a piece off, she'd eat it, and then we'd repeat the same steps. It took the entire ride home for her to consume the whole treat, but piece by piece she made her way thought it. She enjoyed every single bite, too. And as I fed her each piece, I thought about the fact that if I had simply given her the entire Milkbone rather than breaking it into pieces, she wouldn't have been able to enjoy it. In fact, it would be useless to her. She could look at it, lick it if she wanted to, but she couldn't handle eating the whole thing in one bit like a larger dog could. Scout needed me to break her treat up for her so she could enjoy it, piece by piece.
God does the same for us. He has good things in store for us, but we want them right now. Give us the entire blessing, we think. We can manage and handle all that goodness at once. We'll give it a try, at least. Yet the Lord knows exactly what we need and when we need it, and so He takes that blessing and He breaks a piece off for us. A bit of encouragement here, an answered prayer there, a heart's desire met at this spot, and He hands us each one as we can handle it. The truth is, if He gave the whole thing to us at one time, we'd be overwhelmed. We wouldn't even know where to start or what to do with it, and we'd probably find ourselves lost. Psalm 84:11 reminds us that the Lord withholds no good thing from us, but sometimes He may give it to us in pieces. It doesn't mean we aren't going to receive all that He has in store for us, it just means He has a method of giving it to us so that we'll be able to enjoy it completely. We'll be able to make the most of it, and we'll be able to savor it. After all, one quick bite ends quickly. A taste here and a taste there keeps you searching for more. Really, it keeps your eye on Him because you certainly don't want to miss the next piece.
So take each piece as it comes and realize that they're all leading to the same, good thing. God has great things in store for His children, and He'll hand it to us when the time is right. He knows how much we need and when we need it. He isn't withholding good things to stress you out, rather, He's waiting on the perfect time to bless you with them. So keep watching. Keep waiting. Don't miss out on what God is doing. He'll make sure you get the entire thing, it'll just arrive one piece at a time.
#981 - For all the pieces that make up His blessings.
"Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence." - Psalm 21:6
Scout and I went by Chick-fil-A to pick up dinner. We pulled up to the drive-thru and the little cashier was impressed with Scout. She said, "What a cute dog!" as she reached into the box of Milkbones. She held a treat out the window for Scout who was more than excited to receive it. I thanked her for the treat and tried to settle down my eager dog. Scout loves treats. Really, she loves anything I feed her. She doesn't care what it is. As long as it is coming from my hand, she deems it good.
I knew she wasn't going to wait until we got home to eat her treat. She had her nose stuck to my hand in an attempt to pry open my fist and for that Milkbone goodness. The only problem was that the Milkbone was too big for her to eat. Scout has a tiny mouth. She's used to eating morsels, and she doesn't attempt to bite off more than she can chew. In fact, if she bites down on something that she thinks is too hard, she'll spit it out. She doesn't try to crunch it into smaller pieces. She just looks at it with a bit of disappointment on her face and waits for someone to break into more manageable pieces for her.
As we drove home, I broke her treat into small pieces. I'd break a piece off, she'd eat it, and then we'd repeat the same steps. It took the entire ride home for her to consume the whole treat, but piece by piece she made her way thought it. She enjoyed every single bite, too. And as I fed her each piece, I thought about the fact that if I had simply given her the entire Milkbone rather than breaking it into pieces, she wouldn't have been able to enjoy it. In fact, it would be useless to her. She could look at it, lick it if she wanted to, but she couldn't handle eating the whole thing in one bit like a larger dog could. Scout needed me to break her treat up for her so she could enjoy it, piece by piece.
God does the same for us. He has good things in store for us, but we want them right now. Give us the entire blessing, we think. We can manage and handle all that goodness at once. We'll give it a try, at least. Yet the Lord knows exactly what we need and when we need it, and so He takes that blessing and He breaks a piece off for us. A bit of encouragement here, an answered prayer there, a heart's desire met at this spot, and He hands us each one as we can handle it. The truth is, if He gave the whole thing to us at one time, we'd be overwhelmed. We wouldn't even know where to start or what to do with it, and we'd probably find ourselves lost. Psalm 84:11 reminds us that the Lord withholds no good thing from us, but sometimes He may give it to us in pieces. It doesn't mean we aren't going to receive all that He has in store for us, it just means He has a method of giving it to us so that we'll be able to enjoy it completely. We'll be able to make the most of it, and we'll be able to savor it. After all, one quick bite ends quickly. A taste here and a taste there keeps you searching for more. Really, it keeps your eye on Him because you certainly don't want to miss the next piece.
So take each piece as it comes and realize that they're all leading to the same, good thing. God has great things in store for His children, and He'll hand it to us when the time is right. He knows how much we need and when we need it. He isn't withholding good things to stress you out, rather, He's waiting on the perfect time to bless you with them. So keep watching. Keep waiting. Don't miss out on what God is doing. He'll make sure you get the entire thing, it'll just arrive one piece at a time.
#981 - For all the pieces that make up His blessings.
"Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence." - Psalm 21:6