Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 06-21-2023

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, pad Thai noodles for lunch!

The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is like dew on the grass.
Proverbs 19:12, NASB

Lions roar for multiple reasons, and I suppose the same thing is true of a ruler’s wrath. 

• A main reason lions roar is to warn off other lions. That roar says: 

‘This is my turf; if you come any closer, we have a problem.’

• Rulers warn others off, too. From March of 1973 to August of 1975, I was part of a roar in Germany. There were up to 250,000 US troops stationed there, as a roar that told the Soviet Union not to invade. Today, our roar in Germany is muted.
• Sometimes, the boss lion will roar to stop other members of the pride from fighting. It triggers a social response; the combatants will stop fighting to join the roaring. I suppose a peace-keeping mission is somewhat comparable for rulers.
• Lions also roar as a show of strength. A good ROAR attracts female lions, and shows potential rivals who they might face. 
• Human rulers roar in their campaign speeches, like this: 

"roar."

Frankly, I’d rather deal with the dew. 

Maybe I don’t truly get the full benefit of the dew any more, because I regularly wear shoes. I wasn’t ALWAYS this old, though! I remember a rule from youth: I couldn’t go about barefoot until May 1. All summer long, until I had to go back to school, my feet were washed and soothed by the dew.

Lord, today let me show favor, and not roar at anyone!

Peace be on your household.