Plan B: Choosing to Transform Instead of Transfer - Thursday (Southland Daily Devotional) Plan B: Choosing to Transform Instead of Transfer - Thursday Posted: Proverbs 19:11 A persons wisdom yields patience; it is to ones glory to overlook an offense. I Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Sometimes the best way to find healing from the hurts that other’s can cause in your life is to just try and understand them better. Someone has said, “We’re all fighting a hard battle, so always be a little kinder than is necessary. Let me share a story that illustrates that. My dog, Snoopy, was the best brown and black mixed-breed beagle any nine-year-old boy ever owned. He was also my best friend. Wherever I rode my chrome-plated Sears Stingray bike, Snoopy would follow. If I went to play baseball, he’d tag along, find a cool spot in the shade, and wait patiently until the game was over. Afterward, Id mount my bike and old Snoop would run alongside, keeping pace as we made the one-mile trek home. There were no leash laws back in those days, so Snoopy gained quite a reputation in our neighborhood for chasing cars, trucks and mailmen! His technique for “terrorizing” vehicles was always the same--bark and bite at the front tire, then the rear, then circle around the back of the car before making his “victory lap“ back to the front porch of our small brick home. Ill never forget that warm August evening when a farm truck, pulling a flatbed trailer, came roaring down the street. Snoopy sprang to the task, bounded from the porch and darted to the street, aggressively attacking the front tire, then the rear tire. But as he circled behind the vehicle he misjudged the wheels of the trailer, which pounded his hind legs into the pavement. Yelping and panicked, he ran into the shrubs of a neighbors yard. I rushed to his rescue and found him shivering, bleeding and frightened. As I reached to pick him up I was absolutely devastated by his response...he bit me! My best friend, my good buddy, the best old dog in the world snarled, growled and sank his teeth in my hand. By this time, my mother had arrived on the scene. Noting my tears and confusion, she said something I‘ve never forgotten, “Son, he still loves you, but he’s really hurting. Don’t take it personally. He just needs some space. I learned a valuable lesson that day; not only about dogs, but people. Sometimes they react very abruptly and angrily. Our tendency is to lash back, turn away, or just write them off. Instead, we should pray and ask God for eyes of compassion and a heart of discernment. He will show us how to creatively look beneath the surface. Dont allow someone’s negative reaction to diminish the power of your love. To this day, I still think of Snoopy when I read the words of the Apostle Peter, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (I Peter 4:8) A vet took care of ole’ Snoop that day. Twenty-nine stitches and a few weeks later he was back on the front porch plotting his next car chase. And by the way, he never so much as growled at me again! Gary Black Regional Campus Director Harrodsburg Road Campus
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 10:48:17 +0000
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