Frog Blog

There is a frog in my backyard and he’s VERY loud. My wife noticed it first. One night as we were both falling asleep she said, “That frog has to be huge, for all that sound he’s making!” That first night, I figured it would be a one-time disturbance. I was wrong.

To be honest, I haven’t had much experience with frogs, nor given them much thought. I have never had an opinion about them for better or for worse. You could say I have always been pretty ambivalent when it comes to frogs. Not that I have anything against them, but I never really cared. But this particular frog is different; I can’t stop thinking about him.

Mainly, because he won’t let me. You see, it’s at that beautiful moment when the busyness of my day collides with the comfort of my pillow, that this frog likes to make sure that I know he is there. He sounds off every night, trumpeting out his throaty “ribbits” to remind me, it seems, that the two of us are on different schedules. When I want to sleep, he wants to sing, and his timing is uncanny. To put it simply, what started as a mild annoyance has grown into a deep hatred. This frog, has become the bane of my existent, my nemesis.

Last night, my irritation reached an all-time high. I HAD to find the frog and put an end to the sleepless nights once and for all. I began to formulate a plan. I thought about getting dressed, grabbing my jacket from the closet and a flashlight from the garage. I asked myself, “Are you ready to end this?” “Yes.”

“Do you want your life to be different, to be better? Yes.”

“Are you ready for things to be back to normal? Yes! From the very core of who I am, yes!”

Then I rolled over and went to sleep.

I woke up tired this morning and as I was drinking my coffee I couldn’t help but think about that frog and how, strangely enough, he reminds me of God. Well not really God, he’s not my nemesis. I was thinking more of my relationship with God. Too often, I respond to God the way I responded to the frog - with laziness and ambivalence. I hear God; I know he is there. He keeps interrupting me. He intrigues me until I want to look for him, to find him, to find rest. But my desire is rarely desperate and action rarely follows.

I believe Jesus when he said, “If you look for me you will find me. If you knock I will answer.”

How do we actively look for God? How do we move from desiring God to seeking him? Where has God been interrupting you?

Are you listening?