Holding his video camera with one hand, the man befriended the dogs with his other hand—bribing them towards him with pieces of a cheese burger. Always, the dogs were frightened. Often they were under physical stress as well. They cowered, cringed, or jumped away from their rescuer’s advances. Calm and unflurried, he persisted until he could touch them. Eventually, they allowed him to rub their faces and ears, surprising them with friendship when moments earlier they were afraid for their lives. In follow-up videos, the transformation of these dogs startled me. Dogs that once compressed themselves into cowering bundles of life now exuded affectionate confidence—cavorting with other dogs or leaning their heads against their rescuer's knee and squinting with pleasure as he rubbed their faces.
Watching those videos, I began to realize how profoundly beautiful restoration is. Dogs are meant to be happy companions—not miserable, terrorized beings. When they blossomed under the influence of kindness into vivacious, “normal” dogs, something broken in the world mended.
People are more complicated than dogs, and I won’t try to draw a great parallel between us and our Rescuer, and the man who sought stray dogs. But I will say this. Restoration is beautiful. How we need this miracle ourselves! Color, spirit, confidence—the individual displays of God’s character and glory that He has designed us to live—have all been twisted and dimmed inside us. In His loving kindness, our maker can restore us to what we are meant to be. I want to embrace God’s designs for my being—to allow Him to draw me out of avoidance, fear, shame, and sin and into His real life.
Posted by Elena
