Tag: protection

Short Leash

pet, responsibility, care“Would you be able to keep Oreo for about 5 days?” my friend asked. Many years had passed since we’d been responsible for a pet but this cute little hypo-allergenic dog knew us and shouldn’t be a problem so we agreed to take care of her.

As we were temporarily living in a campground and not a home with a fenced backyard, I had to ensure she was on a leash every time we stepped outside.

I soon learned that she sometimes wanted to go places that she shouldn’t. Some, like the neighbour’s campsite weren’t appropriate. Others, like in front of an oncoming vehicle were not safe.

At those time I would shorten her leash. This made her unhappy and she would balk and strain against me to go her own way. I chose her well-being over her immediate happiness.

I also discovered there was little patience when I stopped to clean up after her. She wanted to be off again right away.

It occurred to me that God sometimes has to keep me on a short leash. I complain and want to go farther than I’m being allowed. I forget that what I want isn’t always what is best for me. When I make a mess of things, I just want to move away and put it behind me. God, however, makes me wait until the clean-up has been taken care of.

Most of the time I’m free to roam where I choose. It is only when my behaviour becomes a problem that I feel the tug of my conscience. This is my Master, reminding me of His care and protection. When I look at it that way, I can appreciate the occasional need for a short leash.

Stand Still

#inspiration, protection, nature, rabbitI turned the corner onto my street and saw one of our neighbourhood jackrabbits hopping across the road. When it heard my car approaching, the rabbit stopped right where it was – in the middle of the road. It held perfectly still as I slowly drove past.

Often I see one of these rabbits in my yard and instead of hopping away when I come close, it will freeze in position, as if to blend into the surroundings and become invisible. Some places are easier to blend into than others.

What is interesting to me is the rabbits hold still when they haven’t done anything wrong but if I come outside and see one doing something destructive in my garden it sure hops off in a hurry. I guess it all depends if it thinks I’ve seen it or not.

I didn’t see the rabbits eating my tulips this year, but the fact only one matured enough to flower gives me the impression the others became tasty meals.

My husband was wondering aloud one day about a sparse patch on our front lawn. He had re-seeded that area but hadn’t seen any new growth. “Maybe the birds ate the seeds,” he said. A few days later he looked outside early in the morning and saw two rabbits happily munching away in this area. It turns out they were eating the tender new shoots of grass before they matured enough for us to see them. Mystery solved!

To be fair, blending in with the surroundings can be an effective survival tactic. If the rabbit can’t be seen, there will be no danger of harm.

Although this may be useful for animals, the behaviour doesn’t work the same way for people. How do I know this for certain; because I’ve tried it?

Someone once told me she had observed me making myself invisible when I was out of my comfort zone. I was like the rabbit on the road. I thought no one could see me but I was wrong.

My desire is to feel like I belong, that I’m part of what is going on. When it feels like this is a bigger challenge than I can handle, I withdraw to protect myself from rejection. This makes me appear aloof and unapproachable. The result is I am not drawn into the group. Isn’t it ironic that I create the very situation I was afraid of?

 

This story was published in my book  Another Perspective.

You Can’t See Me

#inspiration, behaviour, pretectionI turned the corner onto my street and saw one of our neighbourhood jackrabbits hopping across the road. When it heard my car approaching, the rabbit stopped right where it was – in the middle of the road. It held perfectly still as I slowly drove past.

Often I see one of these rabbits in my yard and instead of hopping away when I come close, it will freeze in position, as if to blend into the surroundings and become invisible. Such was the case when I took the picture included in this post. Some places are easier to blend into than others.

To be fair, this can be an effective survival tactic. If the rabbit can’t be seen, there will be no danger of harm.

Although this may be useful for animals, the behaviour doesn’t work the same way for people.

Someone once told me she had observed me making myself invisible when I was out of my comfort zone. I was like the rabbit on the road. I thought no one could see me but I was wrong.

My desire is to feel like I belong, that I’m part of what is going on. When it feels like this is a bigger challenge than I can handle, I withdraw to protect myself from rejection. This makes me appear aloof and unapproachable. The result is I am not drawn into the group.

In essence, what I have just done is to create the exact opposite of what I wanted. I know I’m not alone in this type of behaviour. Does it affect you, too? Let’s step out in confidence to create the lives we want and not those we fear.

What’s Blocking the Way?

#God, #The Lord, #inspiration, protectionOn a recent trip through the mountains, we were slowed down several times for road construction. In one area we came to a complete stop.

Lines of vehicles snaked in both directions and no one was getting through. Up ahead and around a bend, huge clouds of dust billowed into the sky. This was no ordinary roadwork.

Once traffic resumed we were able to see the cause of the delay. Boulders scattered along one lane of the road were being loaded into massive dump trucks.

The area we were driving through is known for rockslides. Blasting had been done to remove loose rock and reduce hazards for motorists.

Our delay may have been an inconvenience to us, but it was caused in order to keep us safe. For that, I was grateful.

I thought of the times I’ve been racing along to reach a destination and have come to a sudden stop. My self-imposed timeline could no longer be met. Not able to see what was ahead, I was frustrated and wondered what had caused this road block.

Looking back, I’ve been able to see I’d been heading into a potentially harmful situation. The Lord stopped me in my tracks to keep me safe. While I was impatiently waiting to move forward, he was blasting away the danger ahead. I’m sure truckloads of problems have been taken away and dumped where I need never concern myself with them again.

The next time my plans come to an unexpected halt, I need to remember the rockslide prevention and stop to thank the Lord for keeping me from harm.

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 121:7-8 NLT)

Coming Undone

#inspiration, #Jesus, protection, coveringAccording to Wikipedia, “Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof.

Along the beach in the Yucatan state of Mexico, we see many of these roofs. Some are on houses and others on palapas, which are open sided shelters used on the beach.

To build a thatched roof, dried palm leaves are placed in an overlapping sequence over beams supported by upright posts. It’s the combination of many intertwined leaves that makes the structure stronger.

To protect the roof from the battering winds coming over the sea, many along the beach have a net secured over the finished roof.

After a day and night of punishing winds, I noticed that several thatched roofs had been damaged. On one, I could see the netting had been torn loose and was hanging off one side. Some large holes now appeared in the roof.

This spoke to me of my life. I am stronger when I join forces with others. Each of us has unique strengths which combine to make us stronger.

Even so, we are only human. Forces will work to separate us and create holes in our structure. Jesus is the covering protection we need to remain intact. When outside influences try to rip this protection from me I need to hold on even tighter to Jesus. He is the one who can hold us together so we don’t come undone.

In their distress they cried out to the Lord. He rescued them from their troubles. (Psalm 107:6 GWT)

Why the Split in the Rock?

cleft in the rockI love the times when something starts out as an ordinary experience and then turns into an extraordinary blessing.

My friend and I were enjoying time together in a local nature park. We explored the paths and took multiple pictures of the creek, small waterfalls and towering trees. Next I suggested we climb a small rock face to see what was on the other side. It wasn’t much of a climb and we were soon at the crest. A few steps later I noticed a large cleft in the rock.

According to the dictionary a cleft is a crack, crevice or split. The split is only partial, usually no more than to the mid-point.

A cleft such as the one I was looking at would be a safe, sheltering space with the rock around it providing protection. I was in awe as I studied the cleft and thought about the story in the Bible where God placed Moses in the cleft of a rock and covered him with his hand to protect him.

Gazing upon this crevice was an example of God’s love for me. He is always willing and able to shelter and protect me when I call out to him.

When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. (Exodus 33:22 NIV)

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7 NIV)

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