Whom do you trust?

Sometime during my sophomore year in college, my family adopted (or was adopted by) a dog. He came to them with a broken leg, probably from an auto incident. After a trip to the vet and some months of healing, he was as good as new. My little brother, seven years old at the time, named the dog “Skeeter.”

I first met this family addition on my first trip home at Thanksgiving. Skeeter introduced himself to me with a thorough sniff test. I guess I smelled like family so I was allowed to come in the house. I discovered that my easy admission inside was not normal. Skeeter was a loyal and intimidating family guard dog. He was one of the most magnificent canines I had ever seen, broad chested, muscular, a pit bull mix. He was also one of the smartest animals I had ever encountered.

My second grade brother had insisted that he was old enough to take care of himself and walk to school, six blocks away, by himself. Previously, he had been accompanied by my younger sister, a high school junior. Once Skeeter was fully healed he also accompanied them. My mother knew that Charlie was hard-headed, so she agreed on one condition: Skeeter would accompany him.

This amazing dog seemed to know how vital his protective role was on those daily journeys to and from the school grounds. He also had an internal clock. Promptly at 2:45 p.m. each school day, Skeeter trotted from our front yard, down the sidewalk, across two streets and into the school music teacher’s studio where he curled up beside her piano and waited for the dismissal bell to ring. He then marched outside and wagged his tail until Charlie emerged for their walk home.

This ritual continued for three years until Skeeter’s arthritic legs could no longer endure the walks. Even then, he would stand on the front porch each day and look down the street so he could bark a welcome to his returning friend.

I tell this rather long story to make a single point: trust comes in many forms. My mother trusted Skeeter to protect/guard my little brother. Skeeter earned and fulfilled that trust throughout his lifetime.

We too have someone we can trust in these trying times. Jesus endured and conquered circumstances as dangerous and deadly as COVID-19. He has proven that He is trustworthy. He has called us into a trusting relationship with Him. We can trust him now because we have trusted Him before. He has never disappointed, and He never will.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” –Romans 15: 13

Offered by Julius “Tip” Tipton

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