More lessons from my dog...

"they feared the Lord,

and put their trust in Him"

Exodus 14:31

I got another spiritual insight today, as I observed the behavior of the Dog of Very Little Brain.  As I've shared before, she is a very devoted dog, but rather meek.  She's afraid of most people, and every other dog she's ever met...

One of the experiences that has shaped her caution toward ~ well, toward anything or anyone she doesn't understand ~ happened when she was just a puppy.  Although she didn't chew a lot of things during her puppyhood, one of the things she did chew was the cord to the vacuum cleaner ~ while it was plugged in.  I think the jolt of electricity sort of paralyzed her muscles, and she was unable even to open her mouth and drop the cord until I came running to help her.  She was burned inside and outside her mouth {do dogs have lips?} and the vet had to put her on antibiotics because there was a possibility of damage to her heart, liver, kidneys, etc.

But even though she'd certainly been in pain when she was shocked, and possibly in continuing pain as the burns to her mouth healed, the vet warned that she'd probably do it again.  Puppies love to chew, and electrical cords are just too tempting.   Fortunately, however, that was not the case.  She never chewed on another cord, and she developed a healthy respect for the vacuum cleaner.   This wariness of the vacuum cleaner manifested itself not as barking at it, or running from it, but keeping her distance, and ideally ~ staying behind me.

This solution of hers fascinated me.  I was the one wielding the weapon, but I was also the one she looked to for protection from it.  So she would stay fairly close to me, and then as soon as I turned it off, she would gleefully jump on me, happy tongue looking for a place to land.

I think this perfectly illustrates the relationship we should have with God.  Scripture tells us dozens of times that He is to be feared.  But I don't think that means we're supposed to cower before Him.  Fearing God means knowing His power, and being in awe of Him.  It means respect and reverence.  But at the same time, God is love.  He is gentleness, kindness and compassion.   He is awesome and powerful, but He is also our Protector.

Lesson from my dog:  Fear the Lord and trust Him, and you won't need to fear anything else.

~ "Understand the fear of the Lord,

and find the knowledge of God." ~

Proverbs 2:5