Shake It Off and Step Up

 

A parable tells of an old dog that fell into a farmer’s unused well. After assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the dog but decided that neither the dog nor the well were worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he planned to bury the old dog in the well and put him out of his misery. When the farmer began shoveling dirt into the well, initially the old dog was hysterical. But as the farmer continued shoveling, the dirt hit the dog’s back, and a thought struck him. It dawned on the dog that every time a shovel of dirt landed on his back, he should shake it off and step up. This he did blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up, shake it off and step up!” he repeatedly encouraged himself. No matter how painful the blows or how distressing the situation seemed, the old dog fought panic and just kept shaking it off and stepping up! It was not long before the dog, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of the well. What seemed as though it would bury him actually benefited him – all because of the way he managed his adversity. If we face our problems and respond to them positively, refusing to give into panic, bitterness, or self-pity, the adversities that come along to bury us usually have within them the potential to bless us! Forgiveness, faith, prayer, praise, and hope are some of the Biblical ways to shake it off and step us out of the well in which we find ourselves.

Pray for God’s mercy and love on those buried in the suffering of the California fires.

[Isaiah 41:13] “For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” I love the story of the first grader who stood in front of his classroom to make a speech about, “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up.” He said, “I want to be a lion tamer and have lots of fierce lions. I’ll just walk into the cage, and they will roar.” He paused for a moment, thinking about what he had just said and then added, “But of course, I’ll have my mother with me.” What a difference it makes when we have someone we trust by our side. The presence of our Shepherd is a source of great comfort to us. A sheep doesn’t feel safe because it says, “I am stronger than the lion;” or “I am able to escape from the bear;” or “I shall always be able to avoid the wolf.” A sheep feels safe because “Your rod and your staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). And sheep need to be comforted because they are very easily frightened. If one sheep gets startled and runs away, all of the others will follow behind it with fear, not waiting to see what frightened them. But nothing quiets a flock of sheep like seeing their shepherd in the field with them.

Like sheep, we also are easily frightened. We live in an uncertain world. We’re concerned about so many things that have happened and that could happen. But nothing quiets our souls like knowing that our Shepherd is near. As Jesus promised, “…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). That doesn’t mean we won’t have enemies, or we won’t pass through dark valleys; Psalm 23 makes that clear. The comforting promise in Scripture is not that we will be protected from disappointment and pain; rather, it is that our Lord is a Shepherd who will never abandon us in those dark moments. “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

A man traveling through the countryside noticed that a weathervane on the roof of a farm building bore the phrase, “God Is Love.” He asked the farmer, “Do you think that God’s love is as changeable as that weathervane?” “You missed the point sir,” replied the farmer. “It is on the weathervane because no matter which way the wind is blowing, God is still love.” “And we have known and believed the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Praise God for His love.