It's all in the Handler

As we all know, the Olympics started this week.  And I must admit something to you.  I'm not that into them. 
I can hear you gasping. 
Shush it. 
I'm trying to type. 
Look, I get it.  Athletes train for their entire lives to win a circle of gold tied to a ribbon.  I'm sure it's exhilarating, really I'm not trying to be sarcastic.  But, I just don't get anything from watching them. So I turned the channel.  And as you would expect there wasn't much on, willing to compete with all you diehard Olympic viewers (pun intended.)  I finally settled on a dog show, I honestly don't even remember the name of it, but I like dogs so I watched.  It was an agility contest, you know, the kind where the dog runs 1,000 mph through tunnels and up ramps and over jumps, yea that one.

Tyson and I have even dabbled in it.

One of the dogs, lets call her Rosie (not her real name) messed up big time.  Rosie got lost, she couldn't figure out where to go next.  She recovered quickly though and finished the course but at the cost of a lot of points.  No way for her to win I thought.  But apparently in this contest each dog gets to go twice.  Rosie gets to go again, yay!  Who needs the Olympics with Rosie in action??  She completed her second course flawlessly and while I didn't watch the entirety of the show to see if Rosie won, I did catch an interview with Rosie and her owner.  The reporter asked in so many words,  "You had a fantastic run just now, what happened in the first heat?"  And her owner said "It's all in the handler. She doesn't know the course, I do. She's waiting on my cue, looking at me, asking 'Where do I go? Where do I go?'" 

How many times have we, like Rosie, gotten lost, only to be given a second, third and fourth chance, to try again where we first failed?  And how many times has God given us those chances?  Each new day is a re-do for me.  With every morning comes another shot at doing things right. Because that's the kind of God we serve. A God of mercy, forgiveness and grace.  And each day, we have a choice, do we navigate the course, aimlessly, on our own, or do we look to our Handler, with cherished uncertainty?

The difference is obviously, that Rosie is a dog following orders and her handler let her down. Rosie was doing as she'd been trained to do and was looking for direction. She didn't get any.  

Our God will never let us down.

He's always there ready to give us direction.

He will, without a doubt lead you through your course and across that finish line.

We just have to purposefully watch for his cues.

Intentionally look at him and ask, "Where do I go?"