Sometimes, when life gets complicated, I take a long look at our fun-loving dog and wonder about what makes her so blissfully content.
Scout’s contentment is all about faith, belief, and trust. She is absolutely confident in her belief that Rebekah and I love her and that we will take care of her.
One of my favorite aphorisms, or my version of it, goes: “My goal in life is to be as good a man as my dog thinks I am.”
Then I think about how generously God believes in me. It’s not that the Creator of the Universe believes in me despite myself – God believes in me because of myself. God knows me, at the root of my being, and still considers my life worth the investment of Jesus.
That’s an amazing concept. I am lifted up by the eyes-wide-open belief of God. The wonder is not that I believe in God so much as it is that God believes in me!
When I think about it I’m quite certain that the reason I show up at church to worship (and via my daily devotion) has as much to with God’s belief in me as the fact that I believe in God.
My secret to contentment is predicated on my trust in God, my absolute buy-in to the fact of God’s loving faithfulness.
And my trust is amplified to the extent that I accept and act on the wonder of God’s belief in me.
This is the life-charged life. Not only that I believe in God, but that God believes in me.
How else could we possibly respond other than in grateful service, characterized by love, happiness, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? (Galatians 5:22-23)
You can reach Derek Maul at derekmaul@gmail.com.
