When Bark Comes To Bite

The steward took the men into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys…When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. He asked them how they were, and then he said, "How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?" They replied, "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And they bowed low to pay him honor. (Genesis 43:24-28)

I have a dog named “Bear.” He’s weighs in at around a hundred pounds and possesses a bark that sends postmen into panic. He roams the roost like he owns it. Right now he’s asleep at my feet. In a canine culture, he’s top dog. He’s been known to tear into the trash for a midnight snack, view the toilet as his drinking dish and leaves a matte of black fur wherever he lounges for a nap.

All’s well until Bear finds trouble. Let’s just say he has a tendency to sometimes lack discipline.

Recently he attracted the ire of my wife over some type of dog delinquency. Within seconds, this massive black beast was in her dominance hold--a physical bear (no pun intended) hug that resembles a steer wrestling move. Bear instinctively knew he was in the proverbial dog house as she laid on top of him. Patti eventually released her grip but not her command for him to lay low. Every time Bear moved she barked a “no” and his massive body froze flat to the floor. His ears were pinned down, his paws pulled in, his mouth shut. He knew who was in charge (and it wasn’t him).

Get the picture? Good.

Joseph’s brothers got the same picture, too. When he finally appeared, they hit the floor like a rock. When Joseph asked them about their dad, they gave their report and “bowed low to pay him honor.” They had no idea who this Egyptian prince really was, but they knew he held all the cards. Joseph had them in a dominance hold. Years earlier their bark had bit him but now the mutt was on the other hand. The brothers’ eyes were blind to Joseph’s identity, shielded by his honor and humbled by his presence.

Sometimes I feel like God has me in a dominance hold (maybe you do, too). Like a mongrel mutt, I’ve trashed His holiness, drank sloppily from His grace and barked a few times too loud, too much. My life is pinned down by circumstance and I’m frozen by a fear of the unknown. My dog day afternoons have suddenly become dark nights of the soul. It’s in those moments that I realize God’s loving discipline. Hebrews 12:7-10 says: “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.”

For Bear, our discipline made him a better dog. And if man’s best friend needs a dominance hold from time to time, surely I do too. Sometimes it takes a famine to find a feast. Sometimes it takes a pit to produce a prince. Sometimes it takes a bow to bury the bone or pull the hatchet. Divine discipline always bites at the time, but for those who bend the knee it eventually finds it will bring hope and healing. The good news is we’re not dogs in God’s eyes. We’re His kids. His discipline helps us grow in Grace.

You see, with apologies to “Bear,” God is man’s only best friend. You just have to spell it backward to see it.


NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON DISCIPLINE:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." (Aristotle)

"He conquers twice who conquers himself in victory." (Jyrus)

“Unless you change how you are, you will always have what you've got.” (Jim Rohn)

"No man or woman has achieved an effective personality who is not self-disciplined. Such discipline must not be an end in itself, but must be directed to the development of resolute Christian character." (John S. Bonnell)

Father, I come to You on bended knee. I humbly bow low to Your Grace, Your Presence and Your Power. Without Your Blessing my life is empty. Without Your Peace my life is turbulent. Without Your Strength, my life is weak. Without Your Discipline, my life is reckless. Thank You for being patient with me. Amen.