When our kids were pretty little we lived in town and had a great dog named Barney. Barney was half German Shepherd and half Australian Shepherd. He was wonderful with our kids and put up with all kinds of things like them making rock soup out of his drinking water. (Don't worry , his water didn't stay rock soup very long and was refilled with water) He loved the kids- they were his kids. He was our Mr. Calm and laid back dog, and not much of anything bothered him.
A friend of ours gave us a pair of his old combat boots for Barney and Barney loved them! When he got done with them all that was left of them was the heel, and that heel was his treasured toy. Whenever we were out side with Barney he wanted us to throw that heel for him to chase and bring back to us to throw again. It was his favorite game.
Remember how I said not much of anything bothered him? Well, there was just one thing that bothered him and that was a thunder storm or firecrackers on the fourth of July. I guess it was the noise. It would scare him and he would jump our six foot fence in a heartbeat! Barney was not a small dog, but even bigger dogs have something they may be afraid of. So we would take precautions to make him feel safe. :)
Thinking about Barney reminds me that people come in all sizes and all kinds of personalities, but most of us will admit that there is something that we are afraid of. Some of us may not admit it out loud, but deep down inside we know there is something that scares us. But just like we took care of Barney, our Heavenly Father will take care of us. He even promises to help us with our fears. Isaiah 41:13 "For I the Lord Thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto you fear not I will help you."
Psalm 34:4 "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Isn't it great to know we have a God like that! 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." I love knowing He not only cares about my problems or fears, He will help me with them. It's nice to know our God cares about us in every way. Even the smallest thing in our life is important to Him. When there is a storm or trial in our life or something that scares us we have a place we can go- to Him. And, when things are fine we also have a place we can go- to Him.
There is a place we can go when there is a storm in our life. He cares. He is our lighthouse- our safe place- our shelter-our help.
As you go through the day today think about this: 1 John 4:19 "We love Him, because He first loved us."