“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.“
- Romans 7:18-20 ESV
My human has been asking “why” a lot lately.
Not the kind of “why” that asks why the squirrels always stop halfway up the oak tree just to chatter at me.
I’ve pretty much accepted that’s one of life’s mysteries.
No, these were the heavier kind of whys.
“Why do I keep doing the things I know I shouldn’t?”
“Why do I struggle with the same things?”
“Why do I know what’s right…and still miss it?”
He was sitting on the porch this morning with his Bible open beside a cup of coffee that had long since turned lukewarm.
I laid at his feet, keeping one eye on him and the other on the neighbor’s cat.
A dog’s got to keep his guard up too.
He finally read aloud from Romans where Paul admitted, “I do not understand what I do…”
Now, that surprised me.
Paul?
The fellow that preached, traveled, suffered, loved Jesus with everything he had…even he asked “Why?”
This great riddle made my tail stop wagging.
See, I don’t wrestle much with doing right or wrong.
If I chase a rabbit, it’s because I’m a dog.
If I roll in something that smells awful, it’s because…well…it didn’t smell awful to me.
But people are different.
You all know better.
You love God.
You really do want to please Him.
Yet somehow you still find yourselves saying things you wish you hadn’t, worrying after you’ve prayed, or carrying burdens you already handed to the Lord yesterday.
Seems to me that can wear a person out.
I noticed my human had quit looking inwardly at himself and started looking back at Scripture.
That’s usually a good sign.
Because Paul didn’t write Romans 7 so we’d camp out in our failures.
He wrote it so we’d keep reading into Romans 8, where we discover there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
That’ll make an old dog’s tail thump the porch.
Maybe the Christian life isn’t about pretending the struggle isn’t real.
Maybe it’s about remembering we’re never meant to fight it alone.
I’m just an old dog, but I’ve figured out something after all these years.
When I wander too far from my master, I usually end up in the briars.
When I stay close, I don’t have to wonder where home is.
Maybe that’s the answer to all those “whys.”
Not finding every answer…
…just staying close to the One who already has them.
The struggle with sin doesn’t mean God has given up on us.
It reminds us how much we still need His grace.
Stay close to the Father.
He never gets tired of calling His children home.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
