Sadie Ate My Bible
I wish so much that this was one of those, my dog ate my homework-not at all true-but makes for a good story type of situation, but that is not the case here. It was a targeted attack for sure, and Sadie had to know exactly what she was looking for when she held her own cirque du soleil act in our cottage last weekend.
Sadie is a 10 month old Bernerdoodle with an adorable, but anxious disposition. Smart in some areas, not at all smart in others. And on this fateful day, Sadie clearly did not tap into the smart side of her poodle brain. She climbed up on our table, twisted her way past a mountain of other perfectly chewable items, and sank her puppy teeth into my beloved Bible. She wrestled it to the floor, and ate it. Sadie ate my Bible. The cover was chewed and torn into several soggy pieces. Most of the Old Testament had been turned into confetti, and I think she literally ate the Psalms.
My husband was first on scene, thank goodness. And when I arrived home, I found the remains of my Bible waiting for me in a pile on the table. I’m grateful that he had phoned me ahead of time to let me know what was waiting for me on that day, providing me an opportunity to have a good cry while I made my way to the crime scene in my kitchen.
Devastated seems like too small of a word. That Bible had travelled with me through years of wrestling with a devestating story that seemed to have hijacked my life. It was full of prayers and highlighted reminders of God's faithfulness, His love for me, and His promises to never leave me. It was the perfect weight, the perfect size, and after thousands of hours of reading and rereading the soothing words of my Heavenly Father, its pages were worn perfectly and it sat comfortably in my lap.
I loved this Bible.
And, Sadie ate it.
Honestly, I was grieving. If you have a special Bible that has travelled with you through some dark days, you know the comfort it brings, and I’m sure you can appreciate the loss that this was for me. But, true to His character, God used this difficult situation to reveal some important truths:
God uses broken things all the time. The brokenness of this Bible, does not change the potency of the words, or the power of the One who wrote it. My Bible still has purpose. And you know what, so do I, and so do you. Our brokenness does not limit God’s power, and He is not stumped by what to do with us. He can easily scoop up the pieces and repurpose us, often using us for even greater things than before we had been broken.
The Bible I cling to cannot replace the God Who wrote it. In my disbelief and sadness, I heard God whisper to my heart, “it's just a Bible, you can get another one.” When God whispers to my heart, it always comes with a flood of understanding, and in that moment, I knew He was reminding me to cling to Him, the Author of my favorite book.
Letting go of the past leaves room for God's exciting plans for our future. We can’t cling to the past and the future at the same time. Well, we can try, but it’s not what God wants for us. The Bible says in Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” God's best for us usually requires us to let go of the past and then hold on to His promises. He wants to bring beauty from our ashes, but He needs us to let go of the ashes first.
I’m heading out to find myself a new Bible, but the old one still sits by my bed in a ziplock bag. It will always remind me of this broken-Bible-naughty-puppy situation that in some ways has helped me let go of some things I didn’t realize were holding me back. And if you’re like me, I don’t want anything to keep me from what God has planned for my life. So maybe I owe Sadie some gratitude, given that this pivotal moment taught me some important lessons. That said, I still suggest tucking our Bibles in a drawer, just to be on the safe side.
~N
