Tough Times

By Hazel Holland

When I painted this oil many years ago I wanted to honor my grandfather's memory... his frugal ways and the simplicity of his life style. But I had a difficult time getting his face and hair just right. So I decided to add a beard to his mustache, and extra hair to the top of his balding head.

But then the painting looked too bare and uninteresting so I decided to add a dog. I hesitated at first of putting a dog in the picture, because my grandfather disliked animals, and would have reluctantly shared his meal with this furry friend. 

After placing the dog in the picture I realized that the painting spoke eloquently of my grandfather's ways... He was a recluse who enjoyed the solitude of sitting by a warm fire, eating a bowl of bread and milk, alone with his own thoughts. He would have dismissed the dog's presence, and ignored his pitiful begging. 

Although I loved my grandfather, and lived with him and my grandmother much of the time as a child, I could never get close to him. He was always distant and removed, and didn't appear to be very interested in what was going on around him most of the time. 

As I got to thinking about this painting recently I realized that as a child I was the little dog in the picture who was "begging". I was "begging" to be heard"... "begging" to be noticed... "begging" for some expression of love that would let me know that I was valuable to my grandfather.

Then I realized that sometimes we view God like a distant grandfather. We behave like God is so far removed from our daily lives that He cannot possibly be interested in our every day needs. We feel like we have to beg and plead in order to get His attention and be heard. 

But that is not who God is. He is the opposite of my grandfather. He is not emotionally absent. Scriptures reveals that God enjoys His children so much (God has no grandchildren), that He dances over them with singing (Ephesians 3:17). We don't have to beg God or plead with Him for anything because He is very attentive to our needs. David says of God that he has never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread.

How much more willing is God to give us "bread" than we are to give good gifts to our children? We don't have to "beg" Him for "food", but to open our hearts and minds and receive the Living Bread that He has already given us so freely in Jesus Christ.