My dog is really annoying…I mean really annoying. She is a nine year old German Shepherd whom we have owned since she was six weeks old. Leah and I made the mistake of purchasing an animal before any of our kids came along. For the first year of her life she was the child. The following year our first child, Ty, was born and that dog was never the same. She became withdrawn and was mad at us for bringing competition into her life. We tried our best to involve her in the process of having a new child in the home, but she wanted nothing to do with it. Marley just moped around and pouted. I have zero tolerance for whining so I immediately allowed her to stay in her depressed state. Over the years she has gotten used to the fact that there are five people in our family, including her, but she is not the same dog she used to be. Now I tolerate most of the annoying things she does, but there is one thing she does which irritates me to no end. When I tell you what it is you’ll think it is normal for a dog, but she uses it to the extreme. Marley barks all the time. She barks at squirrels (they tease her), birds, cats (she hates them), other dogs (especially small ones), people walking, people running, people crawling (I’ve never seen this but I’m sure she would), people riding their bikes, rabbits, skunks (I’ll save that for another day), and anything else visible or moving. I know she knows that I hate her constant barking. Every time I am home and she starts one of her barking rages, I go to the back window and stare her down until she sees me. She stops until I walk away from the window and then starts again. Since this has been going on for years, Marley will start barking and then look over to the window to see if I am standing there. Now it’s just a big game. She probably thinks I watch every move she makes awaiting her to do something wrong so I can punish her.

Some people view God in the same way my dog probably views me. They believe God is up in heaven just waiting for them to mess up so He can dish out punishment. If you think like I used to think (because of scary sermons), God’s punishment would involve killing someone in your family, striking you with cancer or a fatal disease, ruining a relationship, or putting me in a bad car accident which would paralyze me for life. Ever heard those illustrations used in sermons? Don’t misunderstand me, God does bring judgment for sin; however, I also believe He is pretty patient with us – all of us. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God punished them but also promised deliverance from sin. God is not out to get us, but He chastens in order to bring holiness and righteousness into our lives (Hebrews 12:6-11). If you had a good example of a human father (like I did), he only punished me so I would learn to do what is good and right, not because he was awaiting a chance to get me.

Do you feel like God is staring you down? He’s not. He loves you more than you’ll ever know and desires you to reflect His image in your daily life.