Have you ever wondered why a particular verse in the Holy Bible that was attributed to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, sounded off colored? You know, sounded harsh. Or unpleasant to the ear. Well, for me, there were two scriptures that I vowed I would query my Lord the moment I graced(*) my foot in Glory.

Needless to say, the Holy Spirit showed compassion on me and pitied my every groan about these matters and decided to put my heart and mind at ease. Yes, the Comforter came to my rescue. He has clarified my lack of understanding concerning both matters. (All scripture verses below are translated from the New International Bible.)

Situation No. 1 (Matthew 15:22-28) (Please notice the last verse of this dialogue. The Holy Spirit made it very plain for me and caused me to see the message more clearly after He interpreted the characters in the verses.

A Canaanite (Gentile) woman from that vicinity came to him (Jesus), crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."    

    Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him. "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."                                  

    He (Jesus) answered. "I was sent only to the lost sheep (Jews) of Israel."

    The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord help me!" she said.

    He replied, "It is not right to take the children's (Jews) bread and toss it to their dogs (Gentiles)."

    "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs (Gentiles) eat the crumbs (Jesus' message) that fall from their (the Jews) Master's (Jesus') table."

THE CLARIFICATION IS THAT THE GOSPEL MUST FIRST COME TO THE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL, THE JEWS; THEN, IF THEY REFUSE TO LISTEN/RECEIVE IT, THE GOSPEL IS TO BE PREACHED TO THE GENTILES (THE DOGS).

Situation No. 2 (Psalms 91:1-3)

    He WHO dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
    Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.

Now, personally, I have a problem reciting those verses above in Psalms mainly because I inherited a derogatory last name...FOWLER. And to recite the name Fowler out loud, causes a person's face to bare a frown. BUT, believe it or not, the Holy Spirit gave me comfort in that situation also, many years ago, by clarifying history.

During my employment career, while on a company business assignment to a convention, I was riding in an elevator with 2 other people. They kept staring at my name badge but did not say anything. When we all disembarked on the lobby floor the couple approached me and introduced themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Fowler. They said that they were from England and wondered where I got my last name from. I told them I acquired it from my husband. The couple smiled and then asked if I knew the history of the name. (Now this is where it gets interesting!)

The couple explained that hundreds of years ago, when the King of England went hunting with all of his regalia and entourage, he also went pheasant hunting. A foul was released in flight and the king would take his bow and arrow and shoot it down from the sky. Next, the servant who accompanied the King, known as the fouler, would run to the downed bird and retrieve it to be returned to the King. However, if the King missed killing the bird, the fouler would crouch down in the bushes and finish off the bird with his own knife before holding up the now 'dead' trophy for all to see. Of course, the King would receive a much deserved round of applause.

So, the runner servant was known as the 'fouler'. However, when the occupational surname transcended across the Atlantic Ocean to America, with new settlers in tow for the new world, the 'u' in fouler was changed to a double 'u' or as Americans pronounce/write it...'W'!

NOW I LOVE MY LAST NAME BEAUSE THE FOWLERS WERE ALWAYS AT THE 'KING'S RIGHT SIDE!

Psalm 91 – My Refuge and My Fortress (With words – KJV) – YouTubeyoutube.com • 21 mins ago

(*) NOTE: I used the word ‘grazed‘ here because I consider myself a sheep of His pasture.

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