God’s Protection
Nov 30
Early Christmas Greetings Everyone!
Gary came huffing and puffing through the front door early one morning from his regular walk around our village. He reported that he had seen about four water animals swimming and diving near the bridge that spans our Credit river. He couldn’t determine whether they were otters or muskrats – a common misunderstanding. So, I decided to do some research to try and figure out what he saw.
Otters are brown, furbearing, long-whiskered, semi-aquatic mammals from the weasel family. They grow to three or four feet long and weigh up to 30 pounds, smaller than the beaver. They have a long, thick tail that takes up to 1/3 of their body length. They stay under water for 15-20 seconds where they go after small fish, turtles, crayfish. They are very fast swimmers but also extremely agile on land and can even climb trees. Their back legs are longer than their forelegs. They can live between 10 and 20 years.
Muskrats are also brown, furbearing semi-aquatic mammals – a medium-sized rodent. They are much smaller growing only to about 18 inches with a very thin tail. They have long claws to dig burrows. They will eat roots, stems or leaves from plants. They like to spend most of their time in the water and can hold their breath for 15-20 minutes. They can swim backwards or forwards. They are valuable for their fur being one of the most trapped animals in history.
Gary’s conclusion from my study was that he must have seen muskrats of which we haven’t noticed many before.
As with many of God’s creatures He built within them a defense mechanism for protection like the skunk’s smell, the porcupine’s needles and the bumblebee’s stinger. Both otters and muskrats can become quite vicious to protect themselves and their families – the otters being known to attack humans.
People don’t usually use a defense mechanism built within for protection unless extreme anger causes them to react violently in a bad situation. In the Bible, God promises time and time again that He is there to protect us. All we have to do is call upon Him for His help. In Psalm 91:4 we read, “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.”
During these days of COVID crisis, Gary and I find ourselves calling upon God’s protection lots for our family members, friends and ourselves which I am sure you are doing too. Hillside church continues to meet each Sunday at Ned Devine’s restaurant. God has protected us in this venture so far but each week we wonder if we will be shut down the next. Even some of the staff members are beginning to pay attention to our Gospel message when they can. We are preparing to deliver about 200 Christmas packets to our community contacts over the next couple of weeks. The packets include some Gospel of John resources. Please pray that the recipients will read this material and consider some changes for their lives. Be sure to look at our thejohnchallenge.xyz website.
Blessings and God’s protection for you over this unusual Christmas season,
Wendy