Our fiercely protective God

Image source: liekearends.com

A friend of ours told us the story yesterday of what happened to her husband's puppy.  While her husband was at work, she and the puppy were enjoying some time in their yard.  Then the neighbor lady let her dog out.  The neighbor knew that her dog - a Pit Bull - was aggressive, and had promised to never let the dog out when our friend's puppy or son are outside, but because of her dementia she sometimes forgets things.  The two yards yards are only separated by a low, flimsy chain-link fence.

Our friend's dog is very curious, especially of the growling Pit Bull next door.  As the dog went to investigate, the barking Pit Bull reached through the fence and grabbed the puppy by the neck.  He started to yank the other dog violently.

At this point our friend started shouting to the neighbor and tried to separate the two dogs.  Nothing worked.  Because of her failing health, the neighbor was also unable to do anything about her dog.  As the Pit Bull continued to yank, our friend's dog started to slide under the fence.

Finally in desperation our friend jumped the fence and got on top of the Pit Bull.  She squeezed with her knees so the dog couldn't breathe.  When that didn't work she tried to choke him out.  The Pit bull was absolutely unfazed continued to yank viciously.

At this point our friend had had enough.  She started punching the Pit Bull in the face until it released her dog.  The amazing part of this story is that our friend is about 5' 6" tall and 120 lbs. soaking wet - not a big girl by any stretch of the imagination.  The Pit Bull could have eaten her for an afternoon snack.  But at that point, all that mattered was protecting her husband's dog.

What a perfect picture of the heart of God.  Look at what David said about Him:

The lord himself watches over you! The lord stands beside you as your protective shade.

The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.

The lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.

The lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

   -  Psalm 121:5-8 NLT

... and in another verse, he writes:

The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear God, and he saves them.

   -  Psalm 34:7 

No matter what you're going through or how bad things seem, you are not alone!  God is watching over you.  Yes, there is a devil who hates you and wants to take you out.  But if you'll pursue God with all your heart and trust Him to deliver you, you'll see Him do amazing things.  You can't earn His love.  And you can't do enough bad things for Him to not love you anymore.

We've seen Him come through for us over and over.  But even if our experience were to differ from what these verses state, it doesn't change who God is.  He is faithful and He can be trusted.  Run to Him, not from Him.

For all you animal lovers out there: Don't worry... our friend's dog is fine.  The wounds were superficial, requiring only a few stitches.  And the Pit Bull is fine too.

PS. If you don't believe in the devil, that's okay   You're entitled to your beliefs.  But Jesus obviously believed in him, and taught about him often. (See Matthew 13:19, 36-43, 12:24-28; Luke 10:18, 11:18; John 8:43-44, 10:10, 12:31-32, 14:30, 16:11... and this isn't even a definitive list).