It is true that oftentimes God is full of wrath and righteous anger.
Isaiah 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Meet Patch … my typically wrath-lacking, one-eyed wonder dog whom I dubbed “LoverBoy” upon our first meeting. Let the reader be informed that Patch is (was) never aggressive towards other dogs. In fact, his resume boasts the title of Entertainment Coordinator for my past pet sitting business, and in that position he interacted fabulously with hundreds of dogs, large and small, with no issues whatsoever.
Rewind to about a year ago. I had folks on the property building a chicken coop. They brought their dog daily, which attracted a couple other neighborhood dogs, the three of which were pals. We, on the other hand, had just moved into the ‘hood so I felt it best to keep my two puppers contained. I’d been warned by the two young men who’d excavated the property that the dog who resembles a dalmation had attempted to bite each of them on separate occasions. One day this dog, named Tebow, stood at the chain link fence, behind which were Patch and his little brother Scout, and taunted them relentlessly til Patch had reached his boiling point.
It is written in the Bible, which I’m well aware is directed at humans, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Apparently, Patch was convinced that he was the vessel through which vengeance should be delivered to Tebow. Unlike our precious God, Patch did not display long suffering (Numbers 14:18, KJV reads, “The Lord is longsuffering … “). Instead, he burst through the gate and chased Tebow all the way to his home, about a quarter mile down the road. Since then, whenever we’d run into Tebow on our walks, Patch would rapidly “escort” him home and then return right back to me; that is until a week or so ago.
We were strolling along minding our P’s and Q’s when along came Tebow’s human dad on an ATV with Tebow trotting alongside. Instinctively, Patch bolted around the corner after them. I heard the man yell, “TEBOW!!!” but I did not see which mutt started the scuffle. I suspect Tebow viewed Patch as a threat to his dad, and rather than his usual fleeing at full speed with his tail between his legs, he chose fight over flight.
The scene was quite surreal, not at all how I’d expect a dog fight to play out — no growling or snarling, no jumping or thrashing, and very little blood. Patch merely wrapped his jaw around Tebow’s neck, pinned his head against the ground, and held him there, both dogs remaining still. We managed to get them separated without much ado, praise God.
After reflecting on this unfortunate event, I determined that Patch’s objective was simply to send a message, “You best change your ways, or next time this might end differently,” and not to render a death sentence. Much like our precious God, Patch was merciful and full of grace towards Tebow. Psalm 86:15 beautifully proclaims, “But thou, O Lord art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” May we remember this verse at times when what we truly deserve is God’s wrath, even death, but instead receive a painful message warning us of potential grave discipline if we do not mend our ways.
As a postscript, I learned last evening that Tebow once grabbed a young neighbor girl by the arm and latched on with his jaw as she was running down the road. Thankfully, she had on a winter coat and was not seriously injured, although blood was drawn. Please join me in praying that this situation is resolved with the safety of others at the forefront.
