So tough and yet so wimpy

This morning I decided to sit outside under the umbrella on the patio to do my devotions and do some writing. It's so beautiful out here. I love the sounds that accompany sunny Saturday mornings as Spring gets ready to jump into Summer. Dogs barking, birds singing, kids playing and leaves in the trees above me dancing to the rhythm of the gentle wind. Wish every morning could start off this peaceful. 

Then my peace was interrupted. 
Our son Aaron has a big dog named Kane. He is the coolest dog and so loving to those he knows. 
To strangers walking their dogs though, he can come across as the bully of the block. 
If anyone dares to walk by our house, he is quick to the fence to let them know that they are in his hood and they best get to steppin' before he jumps the fence and devours their family pet. Since he doesn't know how to jump the fence though, Kane's choice of intimidation is his bark. 
It is loud, deep and demands respect.
By the way families hurry to get out of his sight, I would say he gets what he wants. 






But this morning I saw a different side of Kane as he was far from the big mean dog that he portrays himself to be. 
It all started when a blue jay landed on his food bowl, plucking out a piece of dog food and flying away. 

"Hey!", I yelled at the bird while looking down at my boy laying next to my chair, who did absolutely nothing but continue to lay next to my chair.
 
I started reading again when suddenly two black birds with beady, piercing blue eyes landed on the gutter of the house and leaned toward Kane and screeched at him. 

Once again I looked down at Kane, but this time, all I saw was tail as he was cowering under my chair.

Surprised and disappointed in him, I got up and put his bowl in the garage hoping they'd go away and also because Purina is too expensive to be used to feed mean things with feathers. 







Apparently, this made the birds more mad and instead of leaving like I had hoped, they kept repeating their behavior. Which then made me mad because the more they cawed at Kane, the more he cowered. I tried giving him a pep talk, but he looked at me as if to say, just put me in the garage with my food, Woman. 
The birds kept doing this and it started to freak me out, so I grabbed the nearest thing to me...if you are a lover of black birds with beady, piercing blue eyes...don't read this next part. 
I threw a basketball, okay, two basketballs and a rock at them. Unfortunately, they saw the large objects coming  and they flew away unharmed. I think I only contributed to their already angry selves because then they started to land on the privacy fence right next to the edge of the umbrella and aimed their demands directly at me which allowed Kane to relax a little. They are really scary that close and for a split second I almost joined Kane under the chair. 




Then it dawned on me, from watching Kane's behavior, that this is not the first time this has happened.
These birds keep doing this because they can. 
Instead of Kane standing his ground and tapping into the power within him and using his bark to scare them off, he just hides. All while they fly their little one pound selves down into his yard, land on his bowl and eat his food. 
They just come in and take what is not theirs and he just lets them. 




Determined to not go inside until I was ready to, I remained under the umbrella, but kept a watchful eye for the twin birds because I'm pretty sure they had starring roles in this movie. And that's when I realized that this is a picture of our enemy. 






Satan will bully the heck out of us. He will swoop into our lives and take what does not belong to him because he can. The attacks from him are inevitable. They are going to happen, but our response to the attack is what gives God the permission to swoop in and mark His territory of our heart. Just like Kane's bark makes a dog run away with his family in tow, when we speak Scripture over our enemy, he runs. And when we let the father of lies know that our hearts belong to our Father in heaven, that is when Jesus is quick to the gate of our heart and lets our enemy know that he is not going to come take what is not his. 








There are times when I feel defeated but when I choose to call on the Name of Jesus, I find that there is a big bark behind that Name ladies...say it and watch your enemy cower. He cowers and eventually flees because he knows Who God is and he knows he can't take on something so big and mighty. 






I'm still under my umbrella and the birds are picking on someone else for the time being. 
Kane has resurfaced to the fence and once again is letting the innocent walkers know through his loud barks that you do not come down this street again without an invitation.
If they only knew that if they walked their pet parakeet, he'd be putty in their hands. 
So glad the privacy fence decorated with bird poop keeps the walkers from seeing me.