Dog Bites and Life

I was helping clean up my sister-in-law’s yard after a recent wind storm when it happened. The neighbor’s dog got me. I knew he was not happy with the chain saw, the activity, and the work going on. After all, he kept barking at us. I was carrying a load of wood to the back gate, walking about one foot inside the fence. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of this dog trying to jump over the fence. As I jumped sideways, he managed to extend his head over the fence and catch my arm.

There was not any lasting damage. My arm was swollen and stayed bruised for a couple of weeks. The dog was as surprised as I was. My father-in-law worried about whether the dog should have gotten shots. Ha, ha. The neighbors were apologetic. The yard got cleaned up, and we all stayed several feet away from the fence.

And I thought about how much like life this was.

We all know there are dangerous things in this world. There is war, crime, and evil. People steal, lie, gossip, and murder in our world. We just do not expect it to happen to us. Until it does. Tornados, fires, hurricanes, and tsunamis occur around the globe. We assume those things happen to other people, not us. Until it does. We even know intellectually that people get sick, sometimes even sick enough that they die. We just do not think it will happen to us. Until it does.

Hard things, bad things, tough things happen. They happen unexpectedly. Sometime it is our fault. Sometimes it is someone else’s fault. Hope? How do we survive? How do we find hope, peace, joy, and purpose in a world like this?

I have found the answer in God, and so have millions of others throughout the ages. He will get me through anything this life throws at me. He has, and He will. He gives my life hope, peace, joy, and purpose. And He gives me life forever. He has done this through His Son Jesus. I know him. You can too. Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org or join the blog discussion at www.hopeforlife.org.