Painful trimming

(Re-posted. New posts coming soon.)

Yankee hates grooming time. She starts to shake when she hears the water running and tries to hide in impossible-to-find places---like the couch. (There's not a lot of gray matter underneath that ponytail.)

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And toenails are the worst. She fights me the whole time. One little nudge in the wrong place and she yelps like I'd cut her leg off--eight pounds of insulted outrage.

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As I wrestled with her today, snipping off nails that were curling under from lack of trimming, I thought about how like her I often am when God needs to trim off unnecessary things in my life. I fight and yelp, tuck my treasures underneath me, hoping he can't spot them. But He knows if left untrimmed, they'll grow until they hamper my walk with Him.

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The next time I feel that urging in my spirit, that gentle nudge that tells me I need a trim, I'll think of Yankee. Her regular grooming is crucial for her to stay healthy, happy, and a welcome addition to our family. If she only understood that, she wouldn't fight so hard. It really doesn't hurt; she's just afraid it will.

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God's grooming of our lives, habits, and desires really doesn't hurt, either. We just think it will. But if we stop fighting Him, we'll be so much better for it.

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What might God want to trim from your life?

Is some attitude growing out of control?

Is there some drive that doesn't lead you closer to Him?

What about a passion that you've decided to keep tucked safely out of His reach because He might trim it off?

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Remember Yankee. It's for your own good. Stop fighting.

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