The breeder that rescued Blaze
now has his sister. I asked her if they
would remember each other, she said, ‘No, it would just be another schnauzer to
him.’
It reminded me of a story. A man was touring the Forestry Center in
Portland with his family. He was in a
display area that was large and sparsely attended.
As he was looking, someone came
up to him and ‘violated’ his private space, almost touching him. He moved away from the other man, who came
even closer.
As the first man was ready to
give an elbow to the side the second man said, “cute kid,” referring to the
toddler of the first man.
The first man turned, said
‘thanks.’ Looking past the second man he
saw the second man’s wife and recognized his sister-in-law. The second man was his brother.
True story, I was the first man
not recognizing my youngest brother.
Neither of us had recognized the other, but both our wives had and my
brother decided to have some fun.
When my brother relayed the
story to Mom, she was less than excited, didn’t share our amusement and berated
us both for not seeing each other enough.
Jeremiah
23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places
that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do
not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
There was a
time that I couldn’t go anywhere in the county without someone recognizing me –
of course I was their Sheriff.
But that was
also true of just about anywhere in Oregon, as in most states, people move
around. Kids in college, others move
from one point to another.
It used to
drive my oldest daughter crazy, wherever we went there was someone I knew – and
of course many knew her because of it, she couldn’t ‘hide’ either.
We hear, all
the time, get away from it all. Go
someplace where you can let your hair down, have fun and really enjoy
yourself.
That isn’t
necessarily bad advice – but what does it mean?
If it means you
don’t have to be interrupted by others, if you don’t have to be concerned about
having to watch your back for danger that might be okay.
If you want to
try something new that might ‘embarrass’ you if you did it at home, AND it is
something like trying out a new physical endeavor where practice gives you more
confidence – as long as it doesn’t interfere with your relationship with God,
that too might be okay.
But if it means
that you are going to do things that would or even might impact your testimony
for Christ then you need to rethink what you are doing.
As we know Las
Vegas’ motto, in their advertisements, is “What happens in Vegas, stays in
Vegas.” As if that were true and
everyone had a secret bond not to say anything.
That motto’s that meaning is clear – if you want to sin, come here, no
one will know or talk.
Even somewhere
as far away as that may be, doesn’t mean you aren’t going to see someone you
know. We have all either experience or
heard stories of people seeing someone they knew in distant places.
My oldest son
was in the Marine Corp stationed at Okinawa.
He and some buddies were in Japan, on leave. He looked down the street and saw one of his
classmates from high school! That was a
‘few’ miles away from The Dalles. His
buddies didn’t believe him until he and his classmate started
talking.
Far too many of
us have failed God because we thought what we were doing was hidden from
others. Nothing is truly private, even
in our own home – especially in this day and age where computers are being
hacked, phone calls can be listened to with all kinds of devices, cameras are
everywhere either stationary or in the hands of people with cell phones – or spy
planes or drones.
There are
limitations, of course. Men have hidden
from the law for years without being caught.
Hunters use camouflage to hide from their game, and soldiers to hide from
the enemy. It takes a skilled eye to
tell they are there.
But the reality
is that God sees all! We cannot hide
from God, the first man to realize that was Adam after he had sinned.
We cannot hide
from ourselves, either. Sinning, because
we think no one else is watching – and maybe even thinking ‘but He will forgive
me’ is going to impact our heart. It
puts a void between us and God and it erodes our confidence.
We may continue
to say or do the things we know are right, but eventually it will undermine our
witnessing. As Christians what we do in
darkness will come out in the light of Jesus Christ – one way or
another.
God sees, hears
and knows all things. We cannot hide
from God!
Nor should we
want to.
But in times of
trouble, we can hide, we can hide IN God!
Psalm
32:7
Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou
shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
Selah.
Even though there are all kinds
of surveillance equipment, even though there are those that watch us so they can
berate and destroy us, even though satan is hard at work and we are persecuted,
we can still rest in God, knowing that He is there for us, that our soul is
safely resting in Him.
Lord, how I love you. I want to always live for you. Teach me to keep my heart and mind focused on
you so that I will be able to speak to others with a truth that comes through
and is blessed by the Holy Spirit.
Later, Art :-)
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