Devotional: Heidi, the Gentle Giant

Heidi, the Gentle Giant

by Marsha Iddings

Psalm 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

When I was growing up we had a big Great Dane named Heidi. She was 140 pounds and on her hind feet stood taller than my dad. I have many fond memories of Heidi. I remember one night my dad told her to go outside and go potty before bed. She didn't want to go out. He had to use a gruff voice with her. She finally went, but unwillingly. She stomped her feet all the way through the back porch. My dad wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

We lived on a busy street. My sister and I got a small stool and put it out on the sidewalk and coaxed Heidi to sit on it. What a sight it was! 140 pounds of dog perched on a small stool. You should have seen the looks on people's faces as they passed by. We ended up with a traffic jam in front of our house that day.

Heidi was a protector. My parents were selling a house on private contract and the buyer would come to make his payment each month. He was a scary sort of character, and my mother was afraid of him. He suggested one day that she run away with him. So, when he came to the door to make his payment, my mother would take Heidi with her. Heidi apparently sensed my mother's fear of this man. One day when he reached out to hand her his check, Heidi just put her big mouth around the man's hand. She never bit down and didn't hurt the man, but it was as if she was just warning him that he better not try anything or she would take him down.

Heidi didn't like confusion. If we pretended we were arguing she would get between us and separate us to stop the argument. There was a particular game called Pit that is a noisy trading game with a lot of yelling. Whenever we had a group of friends over to play Pit we had to put Heidi outside. She would not let us play the game. She'd get right in the middle of it so we couldn't play.

Heidi was a gentle giant. She was very gentle with small children. One day we had company and they had a toddler. Heidi was laying on the floor and this toddler was climbing all over her. Heidi was very patient with the child. Then the child picked up Heidi's tail and bit it hard enough to make the dog yip. Yet, Heidi never attempted to snap at or bite the child when the child hurt her.

I think this illustrates how our Lord is with us. We often do things that displease Him, yet, the Scripture says he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. Our Great Dane could have bitten the man's hand off. She could have done great harm to the child that bit her tail. Yet, she held back. God could easily destroy us for our sin, but He chooses to hold back showing mercy and restraining His anger toward our sin. His mercy isn't a stamp of approval of our sin. It's because of His great mercy that He is restraining His anger, giving us time to repent of our sin. Thank Him today for His mercy and grace and come in repentance to Him.