Rolling Thunder and Hot, Big Dog Breath!

Upon returning to the field, I made a commitment to myself and to God that I would have a time of prayer and reading of His word on a daily basis. Even if I could only spend 15 minutes, I decided that I had to do this. I had been doing it stateside, but sporadically towards the end of our time there. So, I set big goals for myself and amazingly I have stuck to them.
I have never been a morning person, in fact I would be the one that sleeps until 10am and then stays up til midnight. However, I am finding that my favorite time of the day is from 5am to 7am. I long for the morning time when I can get back in His word and saturate my mind and heart with the knowledge, wisdom and grace that God has for us.
This morning I awoke at 3:30 to loud, rolling thunder. It was pouring raining outside, hard rain and lots of it. The thunder was so big, I do not think I have ever heard thunder like that. Our youngest, who is almost ten was promptly in the bed with us and our "middle" dog (she is in between the other two dogs in age), who is a 60lb chocolate lab and the biggest chicken of them all, was whining to come in too. I brought her in and got her settled on the floor beside the bed. But she would not lay down, she insisted on putting her face right up to mine as I tried to go back to sleep. She had hot, big dog breath, and she would not leave me alone. I had to at least touch her with my hand. She wanted someone to comfort her, she was scared. Once everyone was settled again it was almost 4am. The thunder was still rolling and the storm was not letting up at all. I decided that this might be the best sleep of the night, so I curled up and tried to drift off, with one hand resting on the dogs head.
Not a chance, each time I began to drift off again, the thunder would clap again and the whole process started over with the dog. She would breathe hot, big dog breath in my face again and whine. So, we layed there for about an hour repeating this process of drifting off, thunder clapping, hot, big dog breath and whining. Finally at 5am when my alarm went off, I got up and put the dog outside. The rain had let up, but the thunder was still rolling. It was incredible to hear. The dog didn't last long outside, she wanted to be right beside me. So I brought her into my office and made her lay down beside me while I had my time with the Lord. She was such a nuisance, she insisted on me touching her in some way. She wanted to know that I was there. I started to get irritated, but then I realized, isn't this what God wants from us? He wants us to run to Him and have a desire to be right beside Him, to be totally in His presence? When we are scared, it is easy to run to the Lord, just like our 10 year old ran to us and our dog came scampering into the safety and shelter of her "master". But when we are not scared and life is rolling along without big thunder claps, Father God desires us to still be close to Him. Why do we often just run to Him in times of distress? It is an awesome place to be, in the presence of the Father. I know that my God would not get irritated with me for coming to Him as I got irritated with my dog for wanting me to touch her. He always welcomes me with open, loving arms and covers me with His grace and love. God desires us to treat one another in the same way. Sometimes, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc. come to us and we put them off. We are too busy or too caught up in what is going on in our lives to even notice that they might be seeking shelter or an ear to hear or just a friend to love them along the way. Maybe they need a hug and they don't even know it.
I encourage you to allow God to live through you today. Notice those around you who might need a little shelter, a hug or an ear to listen to them. They might just need to know that there is someone out there who cares for them and to be reassured that they are important and they count and make a difference. Most likely, these people who are looking for this shelter, don't even realize that they are seeking something. Open your eyes and look around you, close your mouth and really listen to what others are saying. You might be surprised what you see and hear.

Steady in the shelter of His arms!