“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Mt. 6:31-33
Sweet little senior dog Glory, brought long ago to a shelter with a litter of dead pups, emaciated, chewed up in lice, open sores, missing hair, with heartworm disease, an infection, 2 cherry eyes, and other eye problems, so sick she could barely walk for weeks, no longer has any eyes. They were removed. She doesn’t walk by sight. She walks by faith. Faith in her provider. Faith she will get from her provider what she needs to survive. Faith she will get sleep, be carried to where she goes to the bathroom, get food and water, and get medicine as needed, and be safe and secure. I am her provider, and she knows I will provide all she needs to survive.
One day after years of having my sweet Glory, having gone out on the road full-time for the Lord and ministry, and staying in a hotel where Glory stays in her little area with her snuggle buddy paralyzed dog Mr. Simeon along with paralyzed Miss Mercy and senior dancing dog Dancer, I noticed Glory doing something she had not done before. She was pushing her way out of her little area. But why? She was so perfectly content with cuddling with Mr. Simeon and hanging out with her fellow special needs dog buddies. She didn’t need anything. I had already given her all she needed. Food, water. She had gotten sleep. She had gone to the bathroom. She was safe and secure. Then it dawned on me. She wanted to be right where I was. She wanted love. She could smell and sense when I was leaving the room. She wanted to be in my fellowship. She didn’t want to lose “sight” of me. She wanted to be in my presence. She didn’t just care about the physical provision I gave her. She didn’t just want her fellow special dogs. She wanted to keep track of me. I was important to her. I wasn’t just someone who gave her what she needed. She wanted to be with me. She wanted me.
Oh, what a lesson there is in this! Do we desire merely the provision of God? Or do we desire the Lord Himself? Do we hunger for and seek Him simply for food, shelter, and clothing, for physical provision, for what we need and want? Or do we hunger and thirst for the Lord and for righteousness? Do we look to Him as solely our provider? Or as Lord? Whose love and fellowship we desire more than anything or anyone? Sweet little Glory is a precious reminder to seek HIM first, to love Him with ALL our hearts, and to YEARN to be in His presence, spending time with Him and worshiping and living for the one whose glory is forever!