Some Questions to Consider

By Pat Russell

Consider this –

A couple of nights ago I let our three pups out the back door just before bed. They usually run off the deck into the fenced yard for their last “business of the day.” Then they come back to the door ready for their final treat. As they “do their thing,” I wait in the kitchen doing odds and ends. This particular night I heard them come back on the deck barking, all three. That was not so unusual but what I heard next was. It was a pack of coyotes right next to the house howling into the night as they prepared to make a kill!

I immediately ran out the door onto the deck to get my three pups inside the house. My heart was pounding as I expected to see coyotes on my deck. I think I would have started yelling and kicking those varmints if I saw them around MY pups. Protection! Adrenaline! However, and thankfully, the coyotes were not on the deck but down below.

Obie, the biggest dog ran obediently back inside as I yelled with extreme firmness “Get in the house!” Buddy, Mary’s tiny dog who can’t hear a thing, finally caught the drift of my wild hand signals and ran inside. That left Sophie who’s our fearless creature. She was going to get rid of those coyotes if it was the last thing she did that night. She is about the size to feed 2 coyotes with her stout shape and not taller than a foot.

Sophie has always resisted direct orders if they do not fit her desires at the moment. She proceeded to bark and try to dance around my flailing arms. She was making this into a game which I did not want to play. She wanted to get down the steps so she could bark and chase those varmints away. I was working to block her way. In the meantime, the coyotes kept on howling.

Finally, to my great relief, she darted back into the safety of the house. I followed close after and closed the door in relief, maybe slammed would be a better descriptor. I hugged each of my pups with a passion.

So, what’s my point in telling you this story? Try these questions on:

Which “dog” are you during these days of threat and danger?

What do you think the heart of our Father is in these days?

How have you experienced our heavenly Father watching and listening on your behalf?

How do you think he feels and thinks about all the vulnerable people in this world in these days?

What have you seen others do to come to your or someone else’s “rescue?”

How might you be watching out for others with effort and risk on your part?

Lamentations 2:19-22. The thought of my affliction and my homelessness (stay-at-homeness) is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Luke 11:13. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children (or dogs) how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

Luke 12:6-7. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Matthew 6: 25-27. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Luke 12:32. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell all your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.