My Irishdoodle is more of an Irish Setter than a poodle. She hunts like a professionally trained dog. I can only take credit for "sit" and we are still working on "stay". However, her natural instincts of hunting, pointing, and sitting down in the grass to wait for her master is buried deep in her DNA. It's who she is.
Lately, being quarantined with the rest of the family, she is showing signs of who she is not. She is confused. When she couldn't find my husband yesterday, she started her hunt. She searched all over the house, then suddenly stopped and quickly took on the "point pose" toward the garage door. She found him! She sat down by the door listening for her master.
We are confused, too. As human beings God made it clear in the beginning that it is not good for man to be alone. We were created for community, and now, we are isolated. We find it uncomfortable to not stop and talk to neighbors, and it feels odd to not be able to open our door to family members, or go to our church for worship.
We wander in our homes in confusion at the loss of the daily grind. We want to work, we want to open our doors, we want our back porches and patios filled with friends and family. We long for the luxury of just going to the local fast food joint and grabbing a burger while waiting on our number to be called. We want to go sit at the school lunchroom table with friends. We long for stories from friends over chips and dip, and we want to be able to visit our loved ones that are in nursing homes and yet, we can't. We yearn to point with purpose again.
This space between the life we all had three weeks ago, to the life we have now has created a real opportunity for the single thing we all long for- a deeper purpose. With more time on our hands, we can dig deep and point to the mercy and goodness of God. We can spend more time getting to know Him better. Psalm 42:1 says "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." What the enemy has meant for harm, God is using for good, because it gives us all more time to point with purpose.
I imagine that when the disciples went back to fishing after the resurrection, they were not the same men that left three years earlier. Their lives went from meager survival to deep fulfillment! Their depth of purpose had changed. Their faith was stronger than ever, their love for God was unstoppable, and they set the world on fire telling others about His Love!
When this over, Rosie will run free again and point to every chipmunk, squirrel, and duck she can find. She will feel comfortable in her creative purpose once more. When this is over, we too will go back to the daily grind, but maybe, just maybe we will go back like the disciples did, with deeper purpose to point ourselves and other to Jesus, because we have extra time to sit down and listen to our Master. And that my friend, makes all the difference!
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