When we adopted our cat Shelby we noticed she was in need of a good cleaning. We found that odd because she had been in a home and cats are self-cleaning machines. Her long fur had twists and turns and her muzzle was always stained with food. Motley made for an apt description. Rather than lick her fur she would pull it out in tuffs leaving a fuzzy trail throughout the house. A vet visit revealed the problem. Part of Shelby’s tongue is missing inhibiting her ability to self-bathe and chew her food completely. Guess where that led us? To the world of professional (and expensive!) grooming. Miss Shelby has to go about every three months to get a bath and shaved into a short-haired cat. And she is a whole lotta not happy about it. Getting plucked from her spot on the back of the couch, stuffed in a carrier and hauled off to be made to resemble a cat instead of a meowing sheep dog is a major trial for her.

I kind of know how Shelby feels. My life has twists and turns and stains and motley is an apt description. I try to clean myself but end up leaving dirty tuffs trailing behind me. And for sure my self-life is missing every thing I need to be pure and complete. I need washed and groomed into being the person God created me to be. And like Shelby, when God plucks me from my comfortable couch life and puts me in situations I do not want to be in - I’m a whole lotta not happy about it. Yet one of the most effective ways to soap me down and groom me into His image is to put me through trials. Nothing grooms a human being better than trials.

The apostle Peter tells us trials test the genuineness of our faith. (I Pet 1:6-9) James says to “…count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (1:2-4)

Another outcome of trials which the Bible speaks of often is trust. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in YAH, the Lord is everlasting strength.” (Isa 26:3,4) And the ultimate declaration of trust in the midst of great trials is spoken by Job: “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him.” (13:15)

I try to explain these things to Shelby on the way to the groomers, but she continues to meow in protest. I’m just not sure she’s learning anything about trials and trust. Of course, I have to admit, I’m a pretty reluctant learner myself. But I do know this - I want my trust in the Lord to grow so much that I can say right along with Job: “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him.” How about you?