At the tail-end of my daily walk, I turned from the road onto the alley that connects my subdivision to the one I was in. I saw a construction crew building a large workshop midway down the alley. Then suddenly, a German shepherd darted onto the alley. I paused to gauge intent. I decided I didn’t need to fear her and preferred walking the alley rather than walking an extra mile the long way around. The dog stopped, glancing back over her shoulder at me before walking away from me. A few moments later, she checked on me again. After the third time, I realized she was calculating the risk of being trapped between two sets of people: me from the rear and the construction guys up ahead. Suddenly, she darted into some evergreen trees and underbrush.
A few minutes later, I passed the fence she’d wandered out of. Under construction, part of the side fence had a gate-sized gap. Her yard wasn’t hard to escape from.
Past that fence, evergreen trees and underbrush stretched along the rest of the property line. Not wanting to startle or threaten the German shepherd, I kept my head forward and gait steady. But my sideglance quickly found her in the brush, sitting back six feet from the alley. She remained still while intently watching me as I passed by.
I thought about her throughout the day. Maybe experience taught her to be wary. I had no intention of wrangling a dog her size who seemed to know exactly where she was. The construction guys seemed oblivious to her presence. Yet she calculated her perceived risks and opted for safety.
Her actions struck such a chord in me. She helped me see that I’d been sitting back and hiding from a perceived threat, too. I don’t like to feel trapped either.
Most of my perceived threats never materialize.
Better, then, to dispel fear by keeping a prayer in my heart and trusting the Lord fulfills His covenants —
unto me in every ; not, fear not.
Rather than fearfully assessing every risk along the path of life, I can confidently walk with God’s promise that
I will go your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my shall be in your hearts, and mine round about you, to bear you up.
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