Fear in Safe Places
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. Matthew 14:26 (NIV)
When I was a young child, we raised boxers. They were a tail waggin’, slurpy kissin’ bunch of pups. I loved each one of them and cried my eyes out after the sale of each one, even though I knew we didn’t need 7 puppies. The absolute wiggle-joy they brought into my life I have not forgotten after 65 years. Devon O’Day (All God’s Creatures) shares a love lesson for all of us.
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My foster dog, Cookie, is a boxer mix with an underbite that is both adorable and intimidating at the same time; She has a grunting growl that is scary to some, but it really only comes out when she is afraid.
I seldom travel, but recently when I did have to leave town, I boarded Cookie at my veterinarian’s office because the staff had seen her on several occasions and it was a familiar place. Everyone there loves her and always greets her with treats. The young girls who walk and play with the boarders spend so much extra time with them that I thought Cookie would feel happy and safe.
But when we walked into the lobby, Cookie hit the floor and refused to move. She was terrified of the bell on the door and the other dogs, and when the young lady reached for her leash to take her back to the kennel area, Cookie tried to bite. Cookie was trembling with fear, so I had to walk her back with the lady, who kept explaining how much she loves her and how Cookie really has nothing to worry about.
I knew Cookie was in the safest place she could be, but that didn’t stop her from being scared.
Even for us, unexplainable fear can pop up in the most secure moments because we are marked by things that have hurt us or frightened us in the past. It is in the moment we allow ourselves to trust that love never leaves us in a bad place. Only then can we truly start living bravely.
Loving Father, help us to trust that You are always with us, even when we are unreasonably afraid of the unknown. AMEN.