"I stand at the gate...."

Yesterday morning I sat in my Nigerian doctor's swanky, redneck church (I'm serious. The pastor used to be a country-western singer) listening to a man with lots of wisdom and sensitivity to the Spirit preach about the narrow gate in John 10. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting outside watching the sun set when two little long-haired dogs wearing clothes ran into my fence from the opened back gate. I watched them chase birds, run around the trees, play with each other, etc. After a few minutes their owner, my neighbor two houses down, began searching for them and calling for them to return home. I continued to watch as their playful frolicking turned into confusing frustration about how to get out of my back yard. The owner clapped, whistled, hollored. The dogs ran to the side of my fence and just stared through. Seemingly oblivious to go back out the same way they came in, through the narrow gate, they started whimpering and barking for their master. "Come here!" he called. He could see them in my yard, they could see him in their yard, but for whatever reason they couldn't find their way of escape. Realizing that these dumb creatures were going to need an intervention in order to escape my property, the owner came to the gate. Overjoyed, the little pups scampered off to where they needed to be, rescued by one who was willing to come to the gate and direct them out. We have One who leads us too.