Prisoner By Choice

Prisoner by Choice

We currently live in a country town with a menagerie of pets. One of our dogs is a very frisky and a very active fox terrier called Aiko. Aiko has short, wiry, white fur with a large inky, heart shaped mark on her side, that has over the years, morphed into an untidy splotch. Her black ears comically flop over her adoring, tawny face and her endearing eyes melt the hardest of hearts. Aiko has an exuberance for life and a joy that seems endless. She lives happily in our fenced back yard. She runs enthusiastically around the yard chasing any bird who would dare to land in her territory. Her bark is deep and loud leading a listener to assume that the dog in our yard is a very large and a very ferocious guard dog. Aiko takes her role of protector of the family in all seriousness and not a sound or a movement in the neighbourhood escapes her attentive ears. Aiko is courageous and daring, having once chased a would-be thief, clear through our yard in the pitch dark of night, as he hastily scrambled to climb another fence away from her snapping jaws. Yes, Aiko is brave and heroic. 

Aiko, however, has one fear. It is the fear of the unknown world outside the back yard. One very windy, spring day, strong gusts pushed against our cream coloured side gates which had not been securely fastened, rattling them back and forth with a series of clanks. Suddenly the gates burst open, much to the wondering eyes of Aiko. Aiko’s moment of opportunity had come and with the desire for adventure she sallied forth from our yard. Down our pebbled driveway she raced, out onto the tarred road she sprinted. She glanced to the left and to the right unable to decide in her moment of haste as to the best direction to dash. Suddenly, she came to her senses, and realised she was on the alone and on the outside of her back yard in a territory unfamiliar to her. Fear gripped her and in a panic Aiko tore up a neighbour’s driveway and through an open wooden gate to the very back of her yard. She bolted for cover behind a large garden shed and there she hid, shaking in fear. 

I was out at the time of Aiko’s valiant escape, but a friend who lived next door watched the entire procedure and knew Aiko had ensconced herself in another neighbour’s yard. Upon arriving home I was informed about Aiko’s flight and together my friend and I set out to locate her whereabouts. We looked all over the neighbour’s backyard, searching every corner, under bushes and shrubs and exploring high and low. All the time I was longingly calling Aiko’s name, with concern and worry growing at each unanswered cry. Finally my friend and I squeezed ourselves in behind the garden shed and there amongst the tangled growth of vines and weeds was Aiko, cowering and shaking in fear. No amount of coaxing her in tones of tenderness would make her budge. Into that twisted and interlaced undergrowth I pressed. The closer I came to Aiko the more she backed away in terror from me, her rescuer. Slowly she struggled away from me step by step through the undergrowth until she found herself squarely in the arms of my friend. In relief I raced to hug and hold my fear filled dog. In great joy I carried her home and placed her safely back in her own back yard. With tail wagging in delight, Aiko darted and raced with exhilaration around her own familiar and comforting territory once more. 

This incident was almost entirely forgotten until this week. Every time I garden in our back yard and I need to open the gates to enter our front yard I have always placed Akio  securely on her chain. However, this week I forgot. I briskly crossed the yard and abruptly flung open the gates as I strode through them. Aiko was trotting cheerfully behind me until she reached the gates. There she simply stopped. Aiko would continue no further. The fear of what was on the other side of those gates was still firmly in her mind. Aiko had become a prisoner in her own back yard, by choice.

It made me stop and wonder. Was I a prisoner too, by choice? Do I stay in my own well known territory, fearful of stepping out of my comfort zone? Is God calling me to something that is unfamiliar? Does He want me to gain new skills, grow in new areas? Do I resist God’s leading and remain a prisoner to familiarity through fear?

Josh 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Deut 31:8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Phil 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.