The Gate

Shortly after our first year of marriage, my husband bought me a sweet little Chihuahua that we named Daisy. Daisy is a very intelligent dog and for the first several months of her life we had a hard time keeping her contained to our little apartment. We purchased a child-gate to put across the door leading from our apartment to the main house (we lived with my parents) but it was only a few days before she figured out that she could jump over the gate, Knowing how afraid she is of loud noises, my husband unlatched the gate and began just propping it up against the door. The first time she tried to jump over the gate it came crashing down in a loud bang and that was the end of Daisy jumping over the gate; in fact it was the end of her trying to escape the apartment at all.

It has been four years since we've had a child gate up anywhere in our house but since we have a very mobile 8-month-old we've had to bring out the gates to keep him in certain rooms. Daisy is three times the size she was in her gate jumping days and now she can jump heights up to two and three times the height of the gate, but does she? No way. Because of the hassle of latching and unlatching the gate, we attempted to persuade Daisy just to jump over the gate, but instead she lies down in front of the gate and whines and whines. No amount of calling, encouraging, bribing, or demonstrations will dissuade her from her fear.

Don't we do the same thing? So many times I can feel God calling me out in faith but I am too scared or too insecure to trust his judgment. Just like we knew the dog would be safe from the loud "falling noise", God knows and sees all things and just asks us to trust him. How are you crippled by fear?

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?
Psalm 56:4

Your thoughts?