Lessons from Sophie - Dwelling in Safety

Note: We said 'goodbye' to our sweet Sophie the day before yesterday (July 11th, 2021). In memorium, I decided to look back on three posts I added to my blog when Sophie was very young, with the tag "Lessons From Sophie". 

These posts, inspired by our little dog, were demonstrations that Sophie modeled to me regarding what my relationship to Lord should look like.

After reading these, I've decided to update and repost them. May Sophie encourage you the way she has continued to encourage me. 

And now, after having left us, these memories from her are also a sweet comfort to me. This is the first of the three articles, originally posted on May 24th, 2008, when Sophie was a little more than a year old: 

Lessons from Sophie - Dwelling in Safety

"Do not fear for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

One of the first posts I wrote was about my cute little dog, Sophie (click here to go to that post). She provided a great lesson for what it means to wholeheartedly love the one who feeds and cares for her (me).

Now she has again impressed upon me what it means to trust and depend upon her master (again, that's me; though to be accurate, I really am her mistress).

I have noticed an interesting behavior that Sophie displays when she is frightened of something - the vacuum cleaner, for instance. The first time I became aware of this behavior was when Robert and I were in the garden working. Robert was operating the rototiller and, of course, Sophie was afraid of it.

How she handled her fear is how I want to handle myself with the Lord when I am tempted to be afraid of any created thing. Instead of running away from what she feared in the garden that day (the rototiller), she got up as close to Robert and me as she could without getting tangled in the rototiller. As fearful as she was of the threatening raucous monster, she was more sure of my protection of her. She seemed to know where real safety was - right beside me.

Sophie does the same thing in the house when I am vacuuming. She gets up as close to me as she can, sandwiching me between herself and the dangerous suction machine. She doesn't try to tackle the intruder herself, in fact, she doesn't even offer warning barks. Sophie just knows that she will dwell in safety if she is next to me.

For me, this doesn't always come naturally. The enemy's design is to use my fears to separate me from my beloved Savior. But, oh, how I want that trouble to draw me to the Protector of my soul instead. When I am tempted to be anxious about what is in front of me, I desire to instinctively run to Jesus and put Him in between me and the peril. This is what will truly bring great comfort to me and great glory to my heavenly Father.

Besides, knowing this wonderful truth, isn't God good to put the examples before us in such delightful ways? I see my little dog do this thing easily, like it is her only option. May running to my Lord be the only thought in my head also. Only in His presence will I find rest and safety.

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

Lessons from Sophie - Dwelling in Safety

on July 13, 2021 1 comments

Lessons from Sophie - Welcome Restrictions

As I observe how my sweet little dog, Sophie, relates to me, she continues to be a model of what my relationship to Christ should be, though in a limited sense, of course. But the Lord created these animals and puts them before us for many different reasons. Jesus as the Good Shepherd over His sheep, has provided another picture of what we are like (stubborn sheep) in relation to Him (our faithful, protective overseer).

Sophie has an adverse allergy to fleas. Though we do all that is possible to keep fleas off of her, once in a while she gets one from being outside in the backyard. Now the flea doesn't even have to bite her to cause her a great deal of grief. Hers is a contact allergy. As soon as the flea is present, she begins to itch and scratch furiously.

Because of this, once in a while we must put a protective cone around Sophie's neck and head. This restricts her from biting and chewing on herself. In the past she has injured herself in an effort to relieve the itching. The funny thing about this is that though she looks so pitiful with the cone on her head, she really likes the thing. Whenever I need to put it on her, she willingly submits to me and even likes to wear it.

In fact, the other day Sophie did something that Robert and I thought was quite remarkable. She was wearing the cone and had gone outside to the backyard (she comes and goes through a doggie port in our bedroom door). While she was out, the cone popped open and fell off in the bushes somewhere. Robert or I usually retrieve the thing when this happens, but since it was raining out and since the cone is plastic and would not be damaged by the weather, we opted to get it once the rain had stopped. Sophie was doing alright without it by this time anyway.

Several days later, before the rain cleared up, we found the cone on our bedroom floor. Obviously it had not been there long since it was wet with rain. I had been in and out of the room all afternoon and had not tripped over it as it was right in front of the door. Robert spotted it and said, "Where did you find the cone?" I told him that I hadn't found or even looked for it. He then showed it to me - right there on the floor.

How did it get there? Sophie brought it in. That was the only explanation. She does that with her toys also, which isn't so surprising. But the cone? We were amazed and very amused.

By now I'm guessing that you are seeing the implications. The Lord puts certain restrictions on us to protect us. He is very personal about this with each one of His children. Perhaps I cannot do something that you have the freedom to do because it might be a temptation for me to sin.

We have a friend who cannot play the game of darts. He becomes very competitive and gets angry if he loses. Rather than continuing to be put in temptation's way, he decided just to give up the game of darts. That's the kind of restriction I'm thinking of. Of course, you can probably think of some other kind of restriction.

The apostle Paul had what he called "a thorn in the flesh". This was some kind of physical irritant that caused him a great deal of discomfort so that he asked the Lord three times to remove it. But God put it on him to keep him from the sin of pride. He had seen such glorious revelations from the Lord. He said, "And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to buffet me - to keep me from exalting myself!" (2 Corinthians 12:7). This is another type of restiction that the Lord uses to keep us from sin - an actual physical distress.

The point is, how do we respond to the restrictions that God puts upon us? Do we grumble and complain? Do we fight against that divine caveat? Or do we thank Him for protecting us against our own destructive sin nature? If God were to lift the restriction would we jump for joy, knowing that we are still actually in need of that limitation? Would we then take advantage of that freedom to do the very thing that God meant to prevent?

I have no doubt what I would do in such a case. My heart is wicked beyond my knowing and I dare not trust it by thinking that I have matured beyond that original sinful inclination. I must learn to do what Sophie has - to welcome the restriction and even ask that it not be removed, knowing what my heart is capable of.

That is what the apostle Paul did. The Lord denied his pleas that the restriction be removed and told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

And just look how Paul rejoiced over the Lord's denial of the removal of this restriction, "Most gladly therefore, I will rather boast about my weakness, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

Oh that I would say this when the Lord puts a divine limitation on me. I have a picture right in front of me in Sophie - my cute little cone-headed dog.

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

Lessons from Sophie - Welcome Restrictions

on March 04, 2009 0 comments

Lessons from Sophie - Looking unto Jesus...

"...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)

If I could simply look to Jesus the way my dog looks to me, all would be well. Sophie thinks I’m the greatest (the picture is of Sophie in July, 2007). When I’m away, she sits and waits by the front door in anticipation of my return. When I come back she is exuberant over seeing me. All of her body trembles in the expression of her excitement. Her tail, wagging at warp-speed, propells the rest of her body in unison.

Sophie does not center her attention on herself. Her eyes are always toward me, even when she dozes off. Her desire is for me. She works at remaining by my side, following along when I move from room to room. Her motivation is to be with me and enjoy me. Whatever makes me happy, makes Sophie happy. And when I am somber, she feels that also and seems to empathize.

Discipline crushes Sophie. She knows she has met with my disapproval. Making up is then her passion, craving a good word from me. Submissive, she seeks to be restored to my good graces, which, translated, means a good tummy rub.

This dog lives for me, making much of me. So I give her myself. Her devotion to me results in my careful attention to her, though it was originally my love for her that rescued her from doom and destruction. She loves me because I first loved her, though she did nothing to deserve my love and is really only a liability to me.

As Sophie grows and learns more about what makes me happy and what I expect from her, she will become more and more devoted, loyal and obedient. Because she is so enthralled with me, she is a happy dog and things can only get better. The reason Sophie relates to me this way is because she recognizes that I am her superior, in fact that I am a superior being. So she shows her fear and love for me by behaving appropriately.

Now that you have Sophie's behavior fixed in your mind, let's think about ourselves in relation to God. Psalm 123:2 says, "Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to you the LORD our God, until He is gracious to us." A handmaiden did not hear orders spoken from her mistress. Rather, she looked to her hands and received her orders as signals. Thus the term "handmaid".

So we look to Jesus our Lord. When our eyes first fell on Him what did we see? We saw Him looking to His Father's hands pointing to Calvary. We saw the Master, infinitely superior to us - very God of God - becomg the servant (Philippians 2:5-8). We saw Him dying our death on the cross, paying for our crimes. Then looking closer at His hands we saw the nail piercings for our sins. Instead of crude hand signals ordering us about, we saw His hands scarred from the work He did for us on Calvary.

So our eyes have looked to You, our LORD and our God, and indeed, You have been gracious to us beyond human imagination. May we look to Your nail-pierced hands for our joy and strength today. May all of our attention and affections be focused on You, Lord Jesus. May we go where You send, serve when You bid, love as You love, may we share in Your sufferings. And may the glory be all Yours, dear Savior."Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to Your word." (Luke 1:38)

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

Lessons from Sophie - Looking unto Jesus...

on January 30, 2008 0 comments