Our Master’s Voice: Comfort Outside the Comfort Zone (Animal Instinct Trilogy, Part 3)

[If you’re able,
read Part 1, then Part 2, then this post. This trilogy includes some extraordinary but true animal stories and
offers insight into some of our human tendencies, a.k.a., animal instincts.]

My dog Izzy has grown almost completely blind
and deaf, and her sensitivity to odors is failing as well. We rescued her from a shelter so we don’t
know her complete care history or even how old she is. But she’s been in our family for over 10
years and she’s definitely showing signs of old age. Often, when she stops during her walks, she
loses her bearings and starts up again in a different direction. Even when I tug on her leash, she somehow
believes that her poor sense of smell is a better compass than her master's guidance. And, inside the house, she bumps into walls
and furniture, and often bumps around in circles because she doesn’t know which
way is right.

Izzy is out of her comfort zone. As her owner, I’m also out of sorts because it’s
hard to direct an animal that cannot see, hear, or smell. It’s hard to offer comfort to an animal that
is always in the dark. She used to be
very quiet, but now she tells us when she's hungry, thirsty, lonely, and lost. Being outside of her comfort zone is a difficult
phase for her and us.

____________

Norman, a yellow Labrador Retriever,
was blind, but he flourished because he learned to listen.

Norman was scheduled to be put to
sleep when he was just 1 year old. He
was 2 days overdue for that procedure when Steve [not me] and Annette welcomed him into their coastal home. Not long after, Norman began to lose his eye
sight due to retinal atrophy and he was blind within months. But Norman still enjoyed his walks along the
ocean beach.

About 4 years later in the summer of
1996, 12-year-old Joey and his 15-year-old sister Lisa, were swimming not far
from Norman’s beach. They vacationed
there every year, but this time the swimming got rough so they headed to shore
against an aggressive undercurrent. Joey
made it back, but Lisa continued to struggle and pray. She lost her energy to the strength of the
current.

While Lisa wrestled to survive,
Annette went to the beach with Norman who quickly dashed off on a mission. He heard Lisa’s faint cries for help. When Lisa saw Norman coming to rescue her,
she regained her hope and composure, and stopped calling. She didn’t know Norman was blind.

Annette yelled for her to keep
screaming so Norman can follow her voice and save her. And that’s exactly what happened as Lisa clutched
on to Norman, who towed her back to shore. The blind yellow Labrador rescued Lisa, who fondly claimed him as her
guardian angel and cherished his picture on her bedroom wall.

This
canine hero was blind but he had a place and purpose in the world. He returned friendship to Steve and Annette,
who later gave birth to baby Paul, and he saved Lisa’s life, who today is in
her 30s and well into her career.

 ____________

In this Animal Instinct Trilogy, we considered how natural, and sometimes preferable, it is
to return to the leash of sin. Freedom
sometimes feels awkward and uncomfortable. We also wondered why we carry heavy burdens
and suffer unnecessary hardship. We
acknowledged that it’s not like us to hand our issues over to Jesus, even though
He offers to carry them for us. And now we
discuss the confidence we can enjoy when we follow God’s lead, just like Norman
did during his walks on the beach with his master. We struggle to serve God on our own, but with Jesus
as our Shepherd we can comfortably step outside of our comfort zones.

 ____________

Norman
learned how to live with his blindness. He was able to run and play on the open beach because he listened to the
voice of his master. If he was going to
hit something while he ran, Annette would command, “Easy! Easy!,” and he would slow down.

How did Norman
come to trust the voice of his master so well? How can we trust the voice of our Master?

When we
spend time with God, we develop a special trust for Him.

When
Norman lost his visual perception, he needed help to navigate his
environment. I’m sure he stumbled and banged
into things like my dog Izzy does today. He may have even hurt himself at times. After all, wouldn’t we stub a toe, scrape against a sharp corner, bump our
heads…?

Our
missteps should point us to God. Norman
had no choice but to depend on his owners. But he didn’t wallow in pity and he didn’t ‘just
get by.’ He learned, he listened, and he
thrived. As he got to know Steve and Annette,
he probably learned things about them that they may not have known
themselves. He knew what their words
meant, and he understood their inflections and changes in volume. He probably also felt the joy that shaped
their smiles and the sadness within their tears.

After
losing his eye sight, I'm sure he got to know them even better because he
depended on them more. Every touch,
every word, every whisper; whether urgent, whether calm, in any disposition – everything
had meaning.

Is this how it is for
us with our Master, our Good Shepherd?

“…the
sheep listen to his voice.”

John 10:3

Sheep
learn the voice and mannerisms of their shepherd. They know their shepherd’s voice so well,
that they will not follow anyone else. An imitator can even use the same words and tones, and the sheep will
not respond.

“Very
truly I tell you Pharisees,
anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate,
but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. 
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 
When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them,
and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 
But they will never follow a stranger;
in fact, they will run away from him
because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

John 10:1-5 (read 6-
21 also for a richer context)

How familiar
is God’s voice to us? Have we grown accustomed
to the way He speaks? With God, there is
no trickery and no ulterior motives. He
will never contradict His written Word, never act contrary to His character,
and never climb over the fence (Hebrews
13:8). The shepherd always enters
through the gate – “gates” like God’s Word, prayer, godly people, godly ministers,
various circumstances, and urgings from the Holy Spirit.

Let’s
spend more time with our Shepherd – reading His Word, praying and meditating,
acknowledging His presence, being grateful for His involvement in our lives.

As we grow
more in tune with God’s voice, 

we become more comfortable stepping outside of
our comfort zones.

After he
became blind, Norman still walked the beach, and even ran and played
off-leash. He didn’t worry about running
into people or branches or rocks. He
wasn’t scared to cut himself on broken glass when he scratched his back in the
sand. He wasn’t going to have a bad
encounter with other animals. Like any
other dog, Norman could enjoy life outside of the comfort of his home because he
knew his master was with him and watched over him.

Sheep need to leave the comfort of their pen because they can’t fully thrive within their fences. But they step outside only when their shepherd leads them out. They don’t roam about as they please. They listen to their shepherd.

“Come.”
“Eat.”
“Rest here.”
“Let’s go a little further today.”
“You’re doing well.”
“Stay close to each other while I fend off this wolf.”
“Come inside for the night.”

God knows
us personally. He understands our every
hesitation and He walks with us. He doesn’t
ask us to proceed without Him. Sometimes
we stray or wander. It’s natural. It’s our animal instinct to ignore the voice of our Master. But our Shepherd finds us. With joy in His heart, He finds us. He calls us to Him and calls us to follow.

John 10:27-28

We have the
promise of Heaven. Life gets hard at
times, but our stories will always have the perfect ending. We are secure behind our Shepherd’s staff so
we have confidence to follow.

Our next steps may be uncomfortable, but our Shepherd provides perfect care and protection.

God
doesn’t lead where He doesn’t also accompany. He stays with us so we can enjoy the beach, navigate dangerous waters,
and offer our shoulders while He uses us to rescue others in need.

Let’s step out for God.

We can be comfortable
outside of our comfort zones.

Read more blog posts here.

If you
want to know more about what it means to be a sheep with Jesus as our Shepherd,
please email me at authordlv@attnet.com.

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