But let Your hand be on the man of Your right hand, the son of man who You have made strong for Yourself! (Verse 17)
Thus says God, the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and what comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: "I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you." Isaiah 42
"Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them...I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one." Jesus, John 17
Frankie is a fluffy black poodle who walks with a swagger on his pedigreed tiptoes. His lady, my dear friend Sheila, spent months picking him from the many litters she visited in order to find the most amazing dog on the planet. For her, he qualifies. I must admit, he's quite the man. I visited the two yesterday for lunch and Frankie was different. He seemed more subdued and amenable to my petting him. In fact, he followed me around, face up, tail wagging, with his pink tongue slightly dropping from his smiling face. "How come he's so affectionate now?" I asked Sheila. "Usually he's too pompous to give me much attention?"
"We went recently to the dog park close by where I often take Frankie to romp with his ilk," Sheila began. "Usually he plays with the small dogs, but since he's gotten so big, it isn't as fun for him to run with them. So, I let him over in the big boy group."
I am sensing now that something terrible happened. That Frankie was poodle meat for some big dog.
"He was having a ball until the pit bull showed up."
Uh-oh.
"His owner let him go and sat down with an I-Pad and forgot him. Not only was the dog huge, he was unruly. No park manners. Since Frankie was the new kid on the playground, the pit bull went straight for him, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Frankie's fast. And prissy. So the other dog tried to establish dominance and pinned Frankie to the ground."
Now I'm kind of sick at my stomach.
"The other dogs rushed over, too. I'm screaming at the dog's owner, I'm screaming at the dog, I'm just screaming as I run to the huddle and reach in to rescue my Frankie who's terrified and crying. I stick my hand down into the middle of the mess, trying to get the pit bull off him, yelling for help from the man whose eyes are glazed over from too much Facebooking on his I-Pad. He barely looked up. Meanwhile, Frankie's neck is bleeding and I'm ready for some pit bull meat to be served up."
Turns out Frankie was physically okay. Sheila ran him immediately to the vet who said it was a surface puncture wound and the pit bull was probably just playing. "If he'd wanted to hurt Frankie, this neck would look very different." Couldn't speak, though, to the traumatization the poor poodle might feel from his close call with evil.
I resent all the writers who say, "Life's a lot like that." So cliche. But, hey, life's a lot like this story. Especially if we know Jesus. We wander into (or worse, walk right into) a mess we can't get out of by ourselves. Need a hand to reach into the chaos and save us. We have a Savior, who like Sheila, has chosen us from all the other people in the world to be His. As a result, He promised to take good care of us. Up to and including, keeping us from the evil one. Reaching with His right hand and snatching us from the one who toys with killing us...wants to finally destroy us as he marks us as his territory. But we aren't his. We don't belong in his park, and he knows it. That's why when we walk around in it, we better be holding God's right hand.
Frankie is more subdued these days because he recognized his limits. Is grateful for the hand that pets him. Understands he needs his lady there at all times. Her hand ready to rescue and caress. Having a keeper is a better deal than he originally realized in his pride, thinking he was all that as he pranced around the park. Because Frankie was almost dinner for a pit bull, he's going to stay close to the one whose hand saved him from all his troubles. May we do the same.
Thus says God, the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and what comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: "I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you." Isaiah 42
"Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them...I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one." Jesus, John 17
Frankie is a fluffy black poodle who walks with a swagger on his pedigreed tiptoes. His lady, my dear friend Sheila, spent months picking him from the many litters she visited in order to find the most amazing dog on the planet. For her, he qualifies. I must admit, he's quite the man. I visited the two yesterday for lunch and Frankie was different. He seemed more subdued and amenable to my petting him. In fact, he followed me around, face up, tail wagging, with his pink tongue slightly dropping from his smiling face. "How come he's so affectionate now?" I asked Sheila. "Usually he's too pompous to give me much attention?"
"We went recently to the dog park close by where I often take Frankie to romp with his ilk," Sheila began. "Usually he plays with the small dogs, but since he's gotten so big, it isn't as fun for him to run with them. So, I let him over in the big boy group."
I am sensing now that something terrible happened. That Frankie was poodle meat for some big dog.
"He was having a ball until the pit bull showed up."
Uh-oh.
"His owner let him go and sat down with an I-Pad and forgot him. Not only was the dog huge, he was unruly. No park manners. Since Frankie was the new kid on the playground, the pit bull went straight for him, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Frankie's fast. And prissy. So the other dog tried to establish dominance and pinned Frankie to the ground."
Now I'm kind of sick at my stomach.
"The other dogs rushed over, too. I'm screaming at the dog's owner, I'm screaming at the dog, I'm just screaming as I run to the huddle and reach in to rescue my Frankie who's terrified and crying. I stick my hand down into the middle of the mess, trying to get the pit bull off him, yelling for help from the man whose eyes are glazed over from too much Facebooking on his I-Pad. He barely looked up. Meanwhile, Frankie's neck is bleeding and I'm ready for some pit bull meat to be served up."
Turns out Frankie was physically okay. Sheila ran him immediately to the vet who said it was a surface puncture wound and the pit bull was probably just playing. "If he'd wanted to hurt Frankie, this neck would look very different." Couldn't speak, though, to the traumatization the poor poodle might feel from his close call with evil.
I resent all the writers who say, "Life's a lot like that." So cliche. But, hey, life's a lot like this story. Especially if we know Jesus. We wander into (or worse, walk right into) a mess we can't get out of by ourselves. Need a hand to reach into the chaos and save us. We have a Savior, who like Sheila, has chosen us from all the other people in the world to be His. As a result, He promised to take good care of us. Up to and including, keeping us from the evil one. Reaching with His right hand and snatching us from the one who toys with killing us...wants to finally destroy us as he marks us as his territory. But we aren't his. We don't belong in his park, and he knows it. That's why when we walk around in it, we better be holding God's right hand.
Frankie is more subdued these days because he recognized his limits. Is grateful for the hand that pets him. Understands he needs his lady there at all times. Her hand ready to rescue and caress. Having a keeper is a better deal than he originally realized in his pride, thinking he was all that as he pranced around the park. Because Frankie was almost dinner for a pit bull, he's going to stay close to the one whose hand saved him from all his troubles. May we do the same.
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