Grouchy Midnight Mountain Lion

Yes, like for Samuel, David or Daniel, God protects from a grouchy midnight mountain lion.

(Photo by fPat Murray, Flickr.com)

 

One evening, the growls of a mountain lion interrupted my sleep about midnight.

"Mountain lion!!!"

I rushed into my clothes and headed up the other end of the house to the back door, barefoot. In the light of my flashlight, I could see the big, saucer size, bright reflecting eyes of a male Texas Panther. Florida State transplanted the lions into Northern Florida for a time as an experiment in change of habitat.

The lion continued to growl repeatedly, looking straight at me not a hundred feet away. Then the worst possible thing happened. My entire herd of goats came rushing out of their hutch to see what was happening. Oh, no!

Goats are very, very curious. I was in panic, and knew I had to act fast. I possessed no gun.

"Shall I fight the lion barehanded like

David with a kitchen knife?"

I thought fast, as I looked back through the open kitchen door at the knife drawer.

v34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it (1Sam 17:34-35 NIV).

"No, that's not a good idea!" Of course, there was Samson....

v5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done (Judges 14:5-6 NIV).

I ran out of the house,

jumping off the porch!

I dived into my small car, an old Chevrolet Cavalier. I drove it onto my woods road, honking the horn, and flashing the lights wildly. I was in a panic to save my goats!

Mister Lion actually backed off toward the snake ravine! He remained in that area, growling demonstratively through the hours of the night.

The blessing for the shepherd was this--none of my goats were harmed. No lamb chops! And the grouchy midnight mountain lion on his rounds never came back!

I felt the victory of Daniel!

v19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
v21 Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”
v23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God (Dan 6:19-23 NIV).

--Bill Hunt

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