Frogs

I have a dilemma regarding frogs.

I don’t like them.

My dog does.

In fact, I found her playing with one recently and it disgusted me.  Yet, after we returned inside she began playing with a toy I brought home just a few days ago. I purchased the toy because it was cute, green, and croaked … it is a frog.

I have a dilemma regarding frogs.

I don’t like them.

My dog does.

In fact, I found her playing with one recently and it disgusted me.  Yet, after we returned inside she began playing with a toy I brought home just a few days ago. I purchased the toy because it was cute, green, and croaked … it is a frog.

An inconsistency became immediately apparent. And, although a frog has little impact on “life”, the situation provided an opportunity for self-evaluation.

Why do I dislike the “real” frog but embrace its playful representation? I came to a quick conclusion … a real frog is unpredictable. I do not know what it is thinking or where it will move next.

The frog is simply a reminder of bigger “issues” that keep me in turmoil each day:

• Questions such as, “Why here? Why now?”
• Finances
• Personal insecurities
• Job
• Relationships (new, old, in-between, and “no-longer”)
• The future

The common theme within these items is my (perceived) lack of control within them. Perceptions due, primarily, because many of their elements are a mystery.

 “Mystery”.

The word communicates that something is not fully known.

Encyclopedia Brown, Sherlock Holmes, and Kay Scarpetta are characters within the “suspense” genre of literature. The characters guide us on journeys of discovery and revelation as mysteries are solved.

Our daily anxieties and fears are real. They cause physical, emotional, and spiritual pain. To complicate the situation, solutions are not typically packaged neatly within the pages of a novel; a story in which we are the main character.

In the midst of our life story, our daily life provides an opportunity for us to reflect on the triune God.

• A God whose ways are mysterious to His creation.
  • But also a God who knows the secret things (Deut 29:29).

How do we reconcile our fears and anxieties regarding the “unknown” with the Truth that:

• God sees us. (Psalm 16; Hebrews 4:12-13)
  • Remembers us. (Hebrews 13)
    • Will not pass anything through our lives that we cannot handle? (1 Corinthians 10:13)

We trust.

We hope.

We live fully within our journey of discovery as God progressively reveals Himself to us. May we be encouraged by the following Scripture exhortation:

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

~Matthew 11:25-30