MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
My daughter Megan is in 4th grade this year. Her teacher is a trainer for lead dogs for the blind, so this year Megan has the privilege of having a puppy named PJ in her class. Her teacher has been teaching the kids many things about lead dogs and they are even given the opportunity to help take care of him during the day. I am truly excited about this. What a way to expand her horizons! But mine are getting expanded as well…
Megan came home one day after school and told me this story that they heard about a lead dog, and the person that he helped. Apparently, the man was walking down the middle of a street, when suddenly the dog stopped. The man kept urging the dog to move forward, but the dog would not budge! I’m sure he was beyond frustrated at this point. But eventually understanding must have dawned on him that the dog was not moving for a reason. The teacher told Megan’s class that the man finally stuck his foot out in front of him to see if there was something in front of him that was making the dog stop like he did. And that man had to be very thankful that the dog was as stubborn as he was, because as it turned out, when he stuck his foot out in front of him there was a very big hole. That dog could see what the man couldn’t and he saved the man from gettting very, very hurt.
Interestingly enough I had just read a story in Numbers 22 that talks about Balaam and his donkey. It tells about Balaam agreeing to work alongside of men who were trying to destroy the Israelites. They wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites, but God was not going to allow that to happen. Balaam was riding on his donkey and traveling with these men, when on the road the angel of the Lord appeared. The verses say that the angel “stood in the road to oppose him (Balaam)”. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord she veered off in order to avoid him because “she saw that he had a sword in his hand”. She did this three times and all three times Balaam beat her. Verses 28-33 say, “Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, ’ What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?’. Balaam answered the donkey, ’ You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!’ The donkey said to Balaam, ’ Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?’ ’ No’, he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the Lord asked him, ’ Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her.’ ”.
I know that I have been going through life “blindly”. I might think that I need to go in a certain direction in order for me to be happy. But God may stop me in my tracks because he knows that I’m headed for something that will ultimately be bad for me. He can see what I can’t, so if He stops me and sends me off in a different direction, then I need to be thankful that He spared me from whatever the danger was that was up ahead of me.
Lord, I take for granted all of the times that You have kept me from trouble that I couldn’t see. Help me to remember that although there are things that I go through in my life that are very difficult for me, if You weren’t there to guide me, I would certainly have a whole lot more heartache in my life! Thank You for all that You have spared me from already and for all the ways that You will continue to protect me! AMEN!
POSTED BY KRISTIN AT 10:20 A