It was raining hard and the roads in the desert were slick with mud, but I had to get insulin to my diabetic patient before noon. I drove toward the Indian village of Akchin, Arizona, as carefully as I could. In spite of my care, just as I came in sight of the village my car began to slip and slide. Suddenly my car slid into a mucky ditch and was stuck.
At the Indian Health Service Hospital where I worked, we had been warned never to walk through the desert alone. Rattlesnakes, wild pigs and packs of wild dogs were common in the area. But what could I do? Without insulin my patient might even die. Although I was frightened, I asked the Lord Jesus to help me, grabbed my bag of medical supplies, and started out through the rain toward the village.
I’d been walking only a few minutes when I saw a pack of wild dogs running in my direction. For a moment terror clutched my heart, then I quickly prayed, “Lord, hold my hand. Please keep me safe.”
The dogs were racing directly toward me now, growling, barking and snarling, their fangs bared, the hair on their backs bristling and their ears laid back. Soon they were close enough that I could see the saliva dripping from their jaws.
But somehow they didn’t touch me! It seemed as though the Lord Jesus had drawn a circle around me that they were unable to pass.
As I continued walking toward the village, a deep peace filled my heart. I knew that the Lord Jesus was walking with me, just as surely as He had walked with Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in the burning, fiery furnace. The fire had no power over them. They were not burned; not even a hair on their head was singed. Their clothes were not burned, and there wasn’t even the smell of smoke on them. (You can read that story in the Bible in the book of Daniel chapter 3.) And those dogs had no power over me, either. The Lord brought forcibly to my mind the words of Psalm 34:77The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (Psalm 34:7): “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.”
As I approached, the men from the village, hearing the barking and snarling, came out of their houses with their guns drawn. The dogs ran off.
I did what I needed to do for my patients, and then the Indian men came back with me to the ditch where my car was stuck. Together they lifted it back onto the road.
I had trusted the Lord Jesus and He had not failed me. He never will. He loved you and me enough to die on the cross for our sins so we could be forgiven and be welcomed into God’s family. And He loves us enough to take care of us in every situation we will ever face in this life. He wants us to admit that we have no strength to save ourselves from our sins or even to take care of ourselves, and to trust Him to do it for us. Will you trust Him?
ML-03/12/1995