When God says, "No go!"

I'm going to share with you today about a scenario with my dogs that opened my eyes as to why we should continue to trust God, be obedient, and wait on Him when He says, "No go!" It's especially hard to accept when everything looks like "GO!" Actually this story is about my daughter's poodle named Baby. Everyday he goes to the back door, stands there, and stares at me when he wants to go out into the yard (8 acres). I let him out and he faithfully comes back when he is done. I trust him! On the other hand, I don't trust my poodle named Billie. I started letting him out with Baby and one day the guy working in the yard brought Billie to the door. He had found Billie in the driveway by the road! Now, it's "No go Billie!" Ha! As I was pulling into our driveway the other day, I noticed a huge hawk of some sort in an oak tree. I kid you not, this bird was big enough to grab up Baby while out in the large yard and whisk him away. Therefore, I decided that I wouldn't let him out into the back again until the hawk moved on. Baby could only go into the small fenced front yard until then. For a few days after that Baby would go to the back door and stare at me with a puzzled look on his face when I said "No Baby, let's go to the front yard." He then would hesitantly follow me to the front door. Two or three times a day, for three days, he would repeat this same scenario. There was no way that I could explain to him the danger lurking out in the large yard that had been so safe in the past. He was probably thinking, "But I've gone out into this yard for years and have proved that I will come back faithfully and safely." He may have thought that he was being deprived. The Lord showed me that we should trust Him when we don't understand. We should obey him when He doesn't allow us to do something that seems fine. It's not that I didn't trust Baby. I didn't trust that hawk! God sees all and knows all. He loves us and I know that He is protecting us from our enemy! Jesus says in John 10:10 that the devil wants to steal from us, destroy us, and kill us, but He came to give us life and life more abundantly. In some cases, we will not be able to understand specifically "why" until we get to heaven. I am so thankful that our heavenly Father cares so much for us! I'm so grateful for His guidance and protection. We can't always know what's best. We all need the Lord! I'm so glad He's here for us! Hope and faith in God are important. In Psalms 27:11-14 King David expressed his desire that God would teach him His way. He asked for God to lead him because of his enemies. He stated that he would have fainted unless he believed that he would see God's goodness again. He exhorts us all to wait on the Lord, to be of good courage and God will strengthen our heart. He again stresses, "Wait, I say, on the Lord!" Well, the hawk is gone and Baby is once again free to go into the back yard. I'm glad that Baby is alive and well! I'm glad that he again is enjoying himself on the acreage.