Shortly after daybreak, an arctic explorer stood at the base of an eight-thousand-foot mountain. The temperature was thirty below zero. He was about 600 miles from the North Pole, when suddenly, a strange feeling overcame him and he considered turning back. His uneasiness was heightened by the unusual pattern of tracks in the snow. He quickly recognized that most of the prints belonged to arctic wolves!
As he continued up the mountain, the wolf prints disappeared. However, he still sensed an eerie presence. Something was watching him. Pulling himself up to the next snowy rise, the man was stunned by a rush of fur that flashed by his face! Wolves?? Polar Bear??
To his amazement it was a Musk Oxen. The shaggy animals swiftly formed a circle, standing shoulder to shoulder, horns lowered and their young calves tucked inside the wall of protection.
The ravaging wolves had no recourse but to retreat. There was power in numbers. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted another wolf that was now coming right for…him! Only five feet away stood the huge wolf pack! The wolves were no match for the combined protection that the musk oxen gave each other. BUT the wolves were fearless against one man who tried to make it on his own…(condensed Bill Gothard material)
Do you know anyone who says, “I can do it myself?” I think there is a little of that independent spirit in all of us. We forget the danger of trying to make it on our own. Most of us are convinced we have it covered…no help needed in our decision-making process. The savage wolves in life are just waiting to pounce…they come in different forms, but the end result is all the same. There is self-rejection, rebellion, guilt, bitterness, anger, purposelessness, habits and addictions, peer dependence, financial bondage….
Understanding that the only safe place on this complex and confusing planet is to be wrapped inside the circle of the perfect will of God, walking in the light and truth of HIS Word. This is our only hope. Facing the tomorrows independently of HIM is to invite the inevitable, like the arctic explorer. None of us can do it alone…
Which wolves are after your soul?
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
