Follow me, Not the Ball...

 

My friend Bill, took our office dog, Duchess out for a romp yesterday.  Duchess usually comes to Bill with her favorite ball in her mouth when she wants him to play with her.  But yesterday her joints were inflamed and she needed a leisurely walk instead of a more intense game of fetch.  When Bill tried to leave the ball inside, Duchess kept her focus on the ball and wouldn’t follow him out the open door.

“Duchess! Follow me, not the ball!”

That phrase stayed with me long after Bill and Duchess’ walk.  So I asked Daddy if he was trying to tell me something.

“Yes, Taffy, follow me, not the ball.”

I thought of those old singalong TV shows from before my time where you were told to “follow the bouncing ball” as the words of a song scrolled across the TV screen.  The ball helped you get the rhythm of the song correct.

But Daddy was saying the opposite this time.  Follow me, not the ball.

But sometimes I can’t find the ball, and sometimes I feel like I can’t find you!

When you can’t find my hand, look for my face.

Sometimes I’m so focused on what I think I need, or what I want, that I can’t see Daddy at the open door.  I’m just like Duchess not taking her eyes off the ball when what she really wanted and/or needed was to be outside with Bill.

So today I choose to look to you, Daddy, not looking for provision, or the “ball” in your hand, but looking for your face, your presence.

“Lord, when you said to me, ‘Seek my face,’ my inner being responded, ‘I’m seeking your face with all my heart.” Psalm 27:8