This is Bella Zella, my Labrador retriever. She is about 5 years old and is constantly on the move and visiting other people’s homes. Bella apparently has friends everywhere, so many that even when walking her the other day, a random car stopped. The nice lady driving rolled down her window, and she had sunglasses on so I could not tell where her eyes were focused. Her words were, “Well hello, stranger! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.” Knowing already that I didn’t know this woman, I responded, “Hello ma’am, how are you doing?” Her response to me was, “Oh no, I was talking to Bella.” She then said a couple of other things to Bella in a typical dog lover’s voice, and drove off; this is a true story!

Bella is pretty easy going, and she is a good dog. When walking she sometimes likes to try to walk in the road; I usually have her walk to the left side of the road and in front of me. When she walks out in the road, I often yank on her leash to put her back in the grass and off the road because: it’s not as hot on her paws, there’s no cars in the grass, and I hold the leash in my left hand. Clearly, I know that the left side and off the road is the better path for Bella to walk, yet her nose and curiosity often lead her astray. When walking her the other day as she kept trying to walk out in the road, I became frustrated easily and God quickly made the connection of how much of a road-walker I am. God is always in control, but through belief in Christ, I willingly allow and invite Him to hold the leash that is on me in life. I want to be walked by Him and to walk with Him; just like I enjoy walking Bella, He enjoys and delights in an intimate relationship with me. Through the Word, God has clearly given me proper instruction of what it looks like to walk on the left side, and in the grass, but my fallen flesh leads me astray to the dangerous road. Even in His presence, I often ignore the gentle tug and push toward safety and prosperity, that merciful and loving discipline, only to foolishly pursue what I believe is correct – and outside of obedience and abiding in the Spirit, what I believe is correct is a path to destruction.

I would describe my current season as taxing; something that is definitely not pleasant, but also a necessity. If you have followed my life, I recently completed a year-long discipleship program that required living in a tight-knit community, with heavy emphasis on been pushed into personal and spiritual growth opportunities, and a strategic curriculum aimed to garner a deep understanding of the overall story of Scripture. The pace at which life moves in the midst of this program feels like an unending sprint toward the finish line, until I got there. Then time stopped. It was an interesting experience to feel the shift in season from time passing at an unintelligible rate to a season where a wealth of time seemed like too much to bear. Since that point, I have been trying to walk on the road as God has very clearly nudged me back to the safety of the grass. Here’s a couple of specific examples of what He has been teaching me:

A lesson in paradigm spirituality | My mentor and I are going through a book by Kenneth Boa that speaks to this. A paradigm is a conscribed way of doing things. Boa says in this book, “A paradigm is a way of seeing based on implicit or explicit rules that shape one’s perspective.” The point is that we as fallen people tend to view our lives through a temporal perspective. The believer knows how foolish this is, because our Earthly walk is only a small glimpse into our eternal destiny with Jesus (Hebrews 11:13). The temporal and eternal paradigms are in perpetual competition. Through a shift in paradigm to the eternal perspective, we can be comforted in that our deepest longings are unable to be met by what the transient world has to offer. What a better time than now to realize that eternity matters, the temporal world does not.  In my season of seeking purpose, and what God has commissioned for me to do career wise in my life, it has been a rich blessing to be gifted with eternal perspective in my journey towards adulthood. The temporal paradigm leads one to believe that success is measured by the world and by what the world defines as success. Worldly success is walking on the road. The eternal paradigm counters this by leading believers into the safety of the grass, and into obedience of the sovereign God who has a much better perspective and provision than we could ever dream of.

Are you walking on the road or on the grass?

God Himself is a relational being | Interesting thought, right? The triune being, the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the prime example of how much our God and Father values relationships. His call to us is simply to love Him and to love others. There is quite a bit more detail in what that looks like in practice, but the call is simple; love God, love others. Since we are created in His own image, we are called into an intimate relationship with Him, and with others. In my own walk, as I have alluded too before, people-pleasing is deeply engrained within me. I have spent much of my life fearing man. Now, there is a healthy balance to being a relational person that derives joy from serving others, but in my case I often do this in an unhealthy way. I feel affirmed by people, namely by words and direct encouragement. I’ve hit on this before but it is such a profound lesson in my walk that God is still teaching me more about. Ending the season of my discipleship program that had community weaved into it, I have largely been in isolation. In a prideful manner I have tried to make it through the “taxing” times of this season alone, and aside from the love and support of the community God has blessed me with. That simply has not worked. God has been faithful in reminding me the importance of relationships, but predominately my relationship with Him. It becomes dangerous when the need for affirmation from people becomes the cornerstone instead of seeking the true affirmation that only Christ can provide (Ecclesiastes 3:11). A proper relationship with God is key into having healthy relationships with others, and He is mercifully disciplining me into a better servant that depends on my relationship with Him which effectively improves relationships with others. Inverting that equation leads to a path of destruction. God first – Love God, love others.

Do you?

Merciful Discipline | I feel like “discipline” carries a negative connotation. I’d also argue that no one truly enjoys being disciplined. Unpleasant as it may be, it is necessary, and in fact it doesn’t have to be unpleasant. There can be no growth without proper discipline, and learning self-control. The book of Proverbs is full of examples of how the pursuit of wisdom and discipline, and taking that further the discipline of scriptural intake is one that I have been developing. In my discipleship program, it was spoon-fed to me. Daily reading was something that was routine and I was encouraged to not let that substitute my own quiet time with the Lord; ultimately I did. In the adjustment into life outside of the program I was met with a spiritual hunger that I hadn’t experienced in a long time. Quickly it dawned on me that just as I feed and nourish my body with food daily, my soul needs to be fed and nourished daily with the Word of God. Seems simple, like many things, and yet it still becomes a challenge. Actively seeking and being submissive to the Lord’s merciful discipline is exactly the opposite of unpleasant – it is in fact the most freeing thing that one can experience. Spiritual growth happens from the inside, and in order to foster this, one must be open to God’s discipline (Proverbs 3:11-12). One of my favorite analogies that I’ve heard is to think of a statue artist; the sculptor chips away parts of the stone that do not reflect what he envisions his art to look like. In the end, he is left with exactly the piece of art that he sees fit. In the same way, God is the sculptor and we are His statues. Through His merciful and loving discipline, He chips away parts of us that do not look like Him or emulate Him well. In the end, (and only through Christ) He will meet a righteous piece of art that He created and in whom He delights.

Do you reject or embrace God’s loving and merciful discipline?

God is relational, and He is eager to be in relationship with us. He wants to bless our relationships with others. He wants us to have spiritual eyes and eternal perspective. He desires to bless us; all we have to do is walk in obedience to Him, and let Him. Discipline can be unpleasant, but when delighting in what He desires for us, we walk in His blessing. 

Walk in the grass.