stuck like a terrier with his leash in the seat crack

When I take my Maltese-Yorkie, Buster, on a car ride he adores sticking his head out the window, and I have to confess I’m a sucker for the happy doggy grin he wears when the wind’s in his face.

He gets especially excited when he sees a dog on the sidewalk or a swift bicycler and gets so worked up he’ll jump back and forth over the back seat repeatedly. (Yes, I have a very high-energy dog. You don’t know the half of it.)

Without fail his leash gets stuck between the seats, and he’ll start to whine and scramble frantically with his paws even though the more he frets the tighter his leash sticks. I can’t untangle him until we park, and by that time he’s moping because he has to sit still until I jerk his leash from the seat crack.

I know how Buster feels–stuck in bondage to something I can’t control and can’t escape. It’s where I lived for the majority of my life – the Performance Driven Life. A life where you do good things, bravely juggle your responsibilities, and maintain a happy, smiling Christian face. No matter what.

Like Buster I scrambled and tried desperately to keep life together.  But I was worn out, wearily resigned to dreary existing because it’s impossible to perform perfectly all the time – even when you’re doing it for God.

Do you know this feeling of bondage too? Do you feel captive to living up to the demands of God and everyone else?

What freed me from the PDL was discovering that God’s grace has already set us free. Not just a little free, but full on,  hang-your-head-out-the-car-window-with-a-doggy-grin freedom!

Living free

When we begin to understand Christ has already done everything necessary and now lives in and through us, we can let go of the “do enough to be enough” mindset.  Christ releases us from any need to ever live the Performance Driven Life.

Not that we’ve got it all figured out yet. Some days we might still fret at the performance leash stuck in the seat crack.  But, there are more days now where we wear silly grins, reveling in God’s astounding grace.

So, how about it? Wanna make today a hang-our-heads-out-the-proverbial-window-wearing-huge-grins-and-praising-God day?

Buster won’t mind. He’d probably enjoy the company.