Washing Duvets

Our dog, Jack, if I do say so myself, has truly landed on his feet by coming to live with my mother and me.  From dismal beginnings as a homeless puppy in a ditch, to a life of morning peanut butter sticks, daily nutritional food, an assortment of toys, and even his own duvet’ to sleep on.  He loves his duvet so fluffy and soft.  It’s not unusual to suddenly notice it’s gone quiet in the house and he has seemingly disappeared; but no, he’s napping on his billowy duvet.

It was time this week to wash it.  I pulled it out of his bed and wadded it up into a huge ball for easy carrying to the dryer.  This got Jack’s immediate attention.  He came over and took a mouth full of duvet, trying to pull it away from me.  “Jack,” I said, “I need to wash your duvet.”  He looked at me with great astonishment as I pulled the duvet out of his hopeful jaws and stuffed it into the washing machine.  The timer being set, I glanced at Jack and couldn’t help but laugh.  There he was doing a vulture imitation with his head hung low to the floor.  The loss of his duvet obviously weighed heavy upon him.

I thought to myself, if only he could understand I’m making his treasured duvet even better.  That’s when a truth hit me.  I didn’t want to think about it but I had to stop and consider my own behavior before my Heavenly Father.  Hadn’t Jack’s lack of understanding and pouting, at times over the years, been mine, too?

My thoughts quickly darted to yesteryears, remembering times when Father had given me a wonderful blessing of some sort.  I was so happy!  Then, with the passing of time, something happened that I could not understand.  It seemed the blessing had turned sour.  Why would God let such a thing come to pass?  What was happening?  I cringed as I recalled that, like Jack, I too had hung my head like a vulture, disappointed in what I did not understand about God.  Was there some lesson God was teaching me?  Was this a molding time?  Had I done something wrong?

All those serious thoughts swirled in my brain.  I made myself believe God must have been disappointed in me; when actually, all He was doing was making my blessing even better.  I’m sure I’m not alone in sometimes being a bit befuddled concerning methods of God.  While no one can understand God’s ways fully, we do know that His ways are always, without exception, for our good.  He tells us so in Romans 8:28.  God loves us without measure.  Therefore, when something goes wrong  — it doesn’t necessarily mean that God is displeased with us.  He might just be washing duvets.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”  Proverbs 3:5