picturesfromheaven

The last time I posted I mentioned that my little dachshund Pedro was attacked by wolves or coyotes in our front yard. Some of you have asked, Pedro is fine...the wounds have all healed and just a couple of scars as a moment of his experience. He is almost back to normal. I say almost because he has more than just scars, he has memories. The other evening my husband and I were reading in bed with the windows open and yes, Pedro burrowed under the covers as normal. All of a sudden we heard one wolf howl, just one time. But that was enough to have Pedro instantly climbing out from under the covers and sitting in the middle of the bed at full alert. You haven't seen a more comical sight than a dachshund sitting perfectly still with every muscle tense and staring off into space. He listened for more sounds and even though there wasn't any, he started to growl deep in his chest. After a moment, the growl changed into a whimper, which turned back into a growl. He didn't know if he wanted to go on the attack, or fully surrender. That continued for 45 minutes. No matter what I did to reassure him, he just kept growling and then whimpering, growling and then whimpering. His scars were more than skin deep.

Many of us have scars from the past. Most of the time they are are unnoticeable, hidden deep within. But they are there and certain triggers cause them to rise to the surface. In counseling, we call it "inappropriate responses." That simply means that the response is disproportionate to situation. You might think to yourself, "Where did that come from?" And you can be sure that others are thinking the same thing. But for most of us the question is asked but unanswered as we push it aside and go on with our packed lives. The next time you have one of those "intense" moments when intensity is uncalled for, seriously make it a matter of prayer. Ask God to shine a light into the deepest recesses of your heart to reveal unresolved hurt. Once it is revealed, resolve it with forgiveness and then spend time in worship, thanking God for His mercy for revealing a "sore spot" that needed to be resolved.

A great example of a prayer of forgiveness would go something like, "Jesus. I love you. Thank you for all that you have done for me; all you have given me. Thank you for your blood. Thank for forgiving me of all my stuff. Forgive me now for holding on to this hurt for so long. I choose to forgive the person, persons who hurt me. I choose to forgive them, not because they necessarily deserve it, but I deserve to walk around in spiritual and emotional health. I want you to be able to answer my prayers, and I want to be free from any lingering affects of the hurt. So...I forgive ____________ and I choose never to speak of the offense or even think about it again, until it no longer has the power to affect my life. It is only a dusty fact of history. Thank you for loving me enough to remind me of this situation. Thank you for forgiving me. In Jesus name, Amen."

One more thing before I log off. I remember another experience involving wolves. Only this one was a prophesy...the first prophesy I'd ever heard. My husband and I were chaperoning 85 young people to South Korea. This was in 1973. Yes, I'm sure that you think that I was too young, but so did most of the youth we were chaperoning. At this time 87% of the nation was Buddhist, but the church was already committed to prayer. It is awesome what God has done since then. We were all sent out to pass out tracks, and our team went to the train station, thinking that we could touch a greater percentage of the country that way. We did. It caused an uproar with the Buddhist Monks and they threatened to protest, which in the past involved setting themselves on fire. The government confined our group to the hotel for our safety, and we started 24 hour prayer. I must tell you that for most of us it was our first time out of the country and we were all very afraid. At the end of our prayer shift a prophesy went forth. I'll always remember how it started. "Do not be afraid of the howling of the wolves. They are outside the sheepfold and I am standing at the entrance. I will not let them harm you..." It went on from there, but the power of those first few words, changed the atmosphere of the place from panic to peace. The next day there was an assassination attempt on the president and his wife was killed. All the country went into mourning. They forgot us for a season and we were able to finish our ministry and return home without incident.

Whatever wolves are howling at you today. Know that your SHEPHERD is standing at the door of the sheep fold and He will take care of it for you. It is just howling after all. If it becomes more serious, our shepherd will pick you up and carry you through whatever it is you are facing. He is that kind of shepherd. You can trust him.