Big, Scary, Black Dogs and a Fence

Before I begin let me set this up for you, I do not like most dogs. I have a dog, but it weighs 8 pounds and is really quiet tempered, loves all people and is just a great dog! I am not against big dogs I guess, but I am a tad bit scared of them. In fact, there is a house on the way to town that I walk on the other side of the street to avoid because they have two very vicious dogs that bark at the fence at anyone who passes by.

I was walking down the street the other day and a dog started running at me – a huge dog. It was black and it was growling. I was so scared and would have run if I was not aware that I was in public outside. But I kept my cool and kept walking straight, but I quickened my pace… a lot!

My mind, my cursed, over thinking mind, quickly related the big scary dog to life because sometimes life has big scary things in it. I don’t know about you, but I can think of many situations that I have felt like I was in a huge pickle and I could not see anything but the big, scary, black, growling dog that was coming at me. It’s not pleasant at all, is it? I believe because of personal experience and from watching and listening to other people that when something bad happens sometimes people are blind to the good things in their life, like family, friends, but mostly God.

When that scary Dog was running at me I was so scared that I wanted to run, but I pretended to be strong for the people who could possibly be watching me from there window. My mind could not see anything but the big black dog, but when the dog got really close to me he jumped up and stopped. My hand raced up to my racing heart and that is when I realized that there was a fence there the whole time. The dog couldn’t get to me if he tried and he sure did try!

You see God is like the fence, the protection from the scary things. He is easy to overlook when the dog seems so big, but God is not going to throw anything at you that you cannot handle and he sure isn’t going to leave you alone to the Dog. He is the ultimate protector, the fence and unless you choose to cross over the fence the mean dogs can’t get you. God won’t let them!

So next time a big, scary, black, growling dog is running at you remember that God, the fence, will protect you from it and that he has not left you to fend for yourself.

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. – Isaiah 25:4 (NIV)