By: Denny

I was sorting through our collection of VHS and DVD movies the other day looking for something to watch. Over the years we’ve acquired hundreds of movies mainly from second-hand stores. We have westerns, comedies, romantic, war, adventures, many classic TV series, and Disney movies from the 60’s and 70’s before they went off the moral rails. I came across one of my favorite animal movies simply called “The Bear”. It has very little dialog as there are only a couple human characters. The story line focuses on a grizzly bear cub who is left alone to fend for himself after his mother was killed suddenly. She had found an old tree where bees had a huge hive. While attempting to get the honey the tree fell on her. The cub stayed by her for a day then wondered off on his own. He eventually comes upon a big male grizzly, possibly his own father, who had been wounded by a hunter. At first, he rejects the cub, but the cub stays with him and licks his wound. They soon become bonded friends and their adventures begin. The older bear teaches the cub how to catch fish and find other food. They hibernate together that winter. In the spring, the cub sets out on his own to find food. He ends up at the bank of a shallow stream trying to catch a fish. Suddenly a mountain lion appears on the other side and sees the young bear alone. He bolts across the stream to attack the bear who is caught off guard and defenseless. The lion swipes at the cub with claws extended and draws blood on his face. The mountain lion thinks this will be an easy prey. The cub knows he can’t out-run the predator and out of instinct stands up on his hind legs and assumes the natural fighting position of a grizzly. The cub musters a high tenor half roar which seems to say, “I’m not going down without putting up a fight.” As suddenly as he came, the mountain lion quickly turns tail and disappears into the woods. The cub thinks he scared him off and continues an even louder confident roar. Simultaneously, a loud ferocious roar is heard behind him. The camera angle changes and there stands the huge male bear overshadowing the cub. The cub didn’t see that he had his back, but the mountain lion did. That’s why he retreated, not wanting to tangle with the huge father grizzly. What a perfect analogy of a person when God has their back.

I love to read the Bible stories of real people and life situations when God had their back. Moses balked when being sent by God to tell Pharoah to let His people go. God convinced him that He had his back and would demonstrate it by doing great signs with the various plagues. David was confident that God had his back when he defeated Goliath. Elijah knew God would back him up when confronting the false prophets of Baal. Daniel survived the lion’s den as did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo the fiery furnace, because God had their backs, and they all came out unharmed. Jesus sent out his disciples and they returned testifying how God had their backs by performing miracles of healing and deliverance. The Apostle Paul suffered many things for preaching the gospel, but he didn’t quit because he knew God had his back. All these and many others had one other thing in common; they stood their ground and didn’t compromise their faith in God or His word in the middle of opposition. Before Jesus went to the cross, He knew His heavenly father had His back and death and the grave had no power over Him. He willingly gave His back to the torturous whip so He could have yours. Conclusion: There is nothing to  fear when God’s got your back, and everything to fear if He doesn’t.  Does He have your back?