In the mud village of Sarab Saeed, where I lived as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran from 1970 to 1972, there was this large white dog that guarded the entrance to the village. Dogs in Iran are considered Najis, which means unclean. They are kept outside and used to guard the house but are not allowed inside.
As I would leave the city of Kermanshah and walk up to the village where I lived, this very large white dog would often meet me at the entrance to the village. If it was later in the evening, he would growl, bear his teeth, and basically tell me in dog speak, you are not going to be able to take the short cut to your house. He would make me walk all the way around the outside of the village and come in the back way.
There are times in our journey of faith where we are confronted with obstacles that make us stop in our tracks. It becomes obvious that it would be foolish and irresponsible to ignore the “barking dog” and just charge ahead as though he were not there.
Many times, in my journey of faith God has put roadblocks up for me. The roadblocks made me pause, seek His input in prayer, and look for other ways to find my way home, so to speak. The destination is known, it’s the journey to get there that requires never giving up, no matter how many obstacles we might face.
“But our citizenship is in heaven.” Philippians 3:20 NIV
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