Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Runaway Spirit


I used to have a dog with a “runaway spirit”.  In fact, he came into my life because he’d run away from someone else.  I found him roaming the streets one day, and after posting signs about a lost dog, I took him to the vet to be scanned to see if he had an electronic chip which would identify him and his owner.  No such luck, so we adopted him into our family and named him Elmo; however, no matter how much love he was receiving from our family, he took the opportunity to run whenever the gate opened.

After having him for a couple of years, I decided to relocate from Los Angeles to Atlanta.  And what do you think happened the week of the move?  You guessed it, Elmo ran away.  I was devastated!  I left his kennel and travel papers with my sister and prayed that Elmo would be found by the time my sister was scheduled to visit me in Atlanta.  Sure enough, about a week after we’d moved, I got a call.  “Hi!  This is Emily’s mom.  We have Elmo, again.”  Emily was a high school girl in the neighborhood who Elmo had followed home during previous runaways, so they were familiar with my little runaway baby.  Oh, how I rejoiced at knowing Elmo had been found.  My sister went and got him and brought him to Atlanta with her.  Hallelujah!

Knowing I had a runner on my hands (and I loved him too much to see him get lost again), I scheduled to have an invisible fence installed.  If you’re not familiar with an invisible fence, it’s an electrical wire installed under-ground around the perimeter of the yard.  The dog wears a collar that beeps when he gets too close to the wire alerting him to back-up, otherwise, he’ll experience a shock.  The dog eventually learns the boundaries and stays within the invisible fence.

Well, what do you think happened the day the guy came to install the fence?  You guessed it again.  Elmo ran away!  Both the children and I, along with the fence guy, ran through the neighborhood chasing Elmo.  Completely out of breath, we finally caught him.  After getting back to the house, I will never forget the fence installer’s words as he trained Elmo on how the fence worked - “I see that Elmo has a runaway spirit, so I’m going to need to let him experience a shock so he understands the boundaries.  You might want to look away.”  Oh, how my heart ached as he took Elmo to the edge of the yard and I heard him howl at the feeling of the shock.  After that experience, Elmo stayed on the porch for several days uncertain about what was out in that evil yard waiting for him.  Eventually, he learned the system and began to run and play and enjoyed life within the safe boundaries set for him.  And to my great joy, he never left the yard again.

Elmo and I have so much in common.  He was brought into my life to teach me what safe boundaries look like.  I’ve learned that God has a shield of protection around me; however, when I run away on my own will, He sometimes allows me to experience a shock to teach me boundaries.  Ouch!  It doesn’t always feel good, but like the fence installer, I can hear the Lord saying, “This might hurt a bit, but I’m going to have to allow this shock to keep you safe in My will.”  For some of us (and by “us” I mean “me”), it takes a lot of running away before we understand that God’s boundaries are set in place for our lives because He loves us too much to allow us to get lost.  It’s not always easy when you have a “runaway spirit”, but I am constantly reminded that the safe boundaries He’s set for me is just a reflection of His great love for me.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” 
Proverbs 3:5

Love Always,
Shy



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