The Distant Dog

I live in a wildlife refuge. Any given day, one can spot possums, foxes, birds, and squirrels nearby. When adding a couple of dogs to my space, it quickly becomes a loud zoo. On a recent day, I watched a squirrel climb his favorite tree, and follow the predictable path up/down the fence line. This was familiar to the sweet squirrel, and he was happy with his "same time, same place" plan. The sweet squirrel was not so happy when he encountered a new "creature" near the base of the tree. Sadie, Rocky's doggie niece, barked and howled loudly from the squirrel's "same place!" Mr. Squirrel stopped dead in his tracks. He froze. He gave up. Sadie won. She evoked feelings of insecurity and misery into the heart of that precious little brown ball of fluff. Mr. Squirrel encountered an enemy trying to sneak her presence into his pre-destined pathways. The squirrel's retreat into the neighbor's backyard was imminent. As followers of Christ, there will always be situations and circumstances in our lives that shake us to the core. We will face relentless attacks from the enemy. How do we respond? Every part of our being can become paralyzed with the same fear, misery and insecurity of the squirrel. On the other hand, we can trust in our Almighty Father to give us overwhelming strength to know we don't have to face that giant (or dog!) alone. One step at a time, in a forward motion, we'll get there. Our lives will never be the same. As time passes, we will grow to understand and believe that our stories are not about the barking dog in the distance. Our stories are about the day we chose to take the next step and the next step, in spite ot the dog. Our stories are about the day crossing the fence post was of much greater importance than the obstacles we encountered along the way. Take that first step. Trust Him to protect you and keep you safe. Amen.