When Satan Releases the Dogs of War
John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
What a few months this has been. It feels like each and every day, just as the climb gets a little easier, another mountain shoots out of the ground for me to walk up.
Here is an example.
I was planning on spending the weekend with my kids and my fiance’s youngest finishing the basketball hoop and getting the grill rebuilt. It is a beautiful Saturday, so I figured I would take the kids and dog to the dog park before we started. The boys wanted to stay home, but my daughter wanted to come with me.
We get to the park and plan on spending about an hour and then head home to eat lunch. Things were going great. Peru, our American Bulldog pup, was running around and enjoying the company of the dogs. There were about 10 dogs in there.
The another dog came. Evidently one that has been before.
Aaaaaand, they did not get along. And Peru ended up on the losing side of the altercation. We rushed her to the emergency vet and they ended up giving her anesthesia and fixing a few of the bite marks on her head while I came home to tend for the 3 kids.
About $500 and 4 hours later, Peru was home trying to shake off the anesthesia and get back to normal.
Truth be told, dogs will be dogs. There is not one mean bone in Peru and I am sure there is not one mean bone in the other dog. It was just a bad experience.
But through all of this, I learned that Satan knows me very, very well.
John 10:10 – A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.
He knows what will cause me to lose joy. He knows what will cause me to feel guilt and shame. He knows what will discourage me, worry me, obsess me.
But God knows otherwise.
While Satan rushes me….Jesus stills me.
While Satan pushes me…Jesus leads me.
While Satan confuses me…Jesus enlightens me.
While Satan worries me…Jesus comforts me.
While Satan condemns me…Jesus convicts me.
Satan will do everything in his power to send those dogs of war. While the dogs didn’t know that Satan was using their interaction to distract me today, Satan did. As a matter of fact, I bet he was planning this all along!
You see, Jesus ALWAYS gives us a way out.
1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
While I was driving to the park, at least twice my daughter said to me that we should just go to the boardwalk instead.
I don’t believe that was simply my daughter saying that. I believe that God was speaking through her to warn me that Satan was on the prowl!
Unfortunately, when we choose to listen to ourselves instead of the voice of God, we end up with problems and Satan’s dogs of war today is no different.
Very rarely do we humans go back to try to relive the moments to see if God was giving us a way out before we partook of Satan’s distraction. But if we do, I bet we will begin to see God more and more in our daily walk.
So now I have $500 less in my bank account and a dog who needs to wear the cone of shame and take different medicines for the next 2 weeks. Instead, I should have just prayed and asked God if my daughter’s voice was His choice.
Isaiah 30:21 – And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
boyradd 