Coyote and Road Runner: No Weapon

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I say, "That's ALL Folks!"as a farewell to 2013 and a welcome to my 2014 post on a classic Looney Tunes episode.

Monday, I saw one of my favorite episodes with the famous Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, titled Fast and Furry-ous, that originally aired on September 17, 1949. We all know the ongoing plot of these two characters: The coyote watches the roadrunner running through the desert with his binoculars, licking his lips with a napkin around his neck as he dreams about catching that road runner for dinner. He paces back and forth thinking of what he could do to to catch him and he devises some incredibly ingenious ideas to do so. But, no matter what crazy scheme that coyote would design up to try to catch the road runner, it wouldn't work.  Wile E Coyote would work so hard to carry out his well thought out plans, but they were never successful. 

What tickled me as a child yet peaked by curiosity as an adult was the fact that there were unimaginable things that the road runner could do to escape the coyote. However, if Wile tried to do the same thing, it would not work. For example, in this episode the coyote painted a tunnel on the wall of a rock, intending for the road runner to run and smash himself into the rock. Instead, the road runner ran down this illustrated tunnel road. When Coyote tried to chase after him, HE ran and smashed himself into the rock. He was even run over by the roadrunner on his return trip out of this tunnel and out of the rock. Go figure!

Fortunately, I have an artist for a son (Hi Malcolm!) and found out that the creator of these animated creatures wrote a book entitled The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist.  (Jones, Chuck. Chuck Amuck: The life and times of an animated cartoonist. Macmillan, 1999.) Interestingly enough, he exposed that there were unwritten "rules" that were in place for the storylines of all of the Coyote and Road Runner Cartoons. Some of the rules were:

1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "beep, beep."
2. No outside force can harm the Coyote. 

There are many others, however, there is one rule that I will focus on for my post today: The Coyote is not allowed to catch or eat the Road Runner, unless he (the road runner) escapes from the grasp. Are you thinking what I am thinking????!!!!


Let's talk about ourselves shall we?! We ARE road runners, running on our own roads of life. Let's refer to those ROADS as PATHS. THE BIBLE speaks about the path of righteousness the path of life, the narrow path, the path of prudence, the broad path, the upright path, and the straight path. We may be busy running our path, and on top of that, there is a coyote called the devil out there watching us, waiting, plotting, thinking, designing: trying to steal kill and destroy us. But thanks be to God that, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." Isaiah 54:17a.  Isaiah 54 has an important message from this prophet: Isaiah speaks to the Gentiles regarding God's covenant and promises of His protection and righteousness. Isaiah shares God's declarations and professes their safety, their deliverance, and their preservation.  Different Bible translations use the term prosper (to become very successful ) or succeed (to do what you are trying to do : to achieve the correct or desired result) or prevail (to defeat an opponent especially in a long or difficult contest.) Nonetheless, I love the International Standard Version, "No weapon that is forged against you will be effective." Effective is defined as:  producing a result that is wanted : having an intended effect. Basically, God will protect, deliver, and/or deliver us from the successful effect of a weapon. 



AND THIS MEANS WHAT?
That darned Wile E. Coyote tried to make a weapon effective in catching or killing the roadrunner. He would make traps that would end up not operating correctly. He would draw blueprint plans that did not represent what the final product was. In spite of all of that EFFORT, none of the plans had the desired effect he wanted. Wile E. Coyote had an unlimited supply of ACME products and boulders in the desert,  he set up every trap, spring, or tried to find every hiding place. His weapons did NOT WORK. The devil does the same thing. He watches us, he designs traps for us, he sets up weapons to destroy us, but none of it will NOT work. Satan has to follow the rules, just like the unwritten rules of the cartoon.  The Coyote is not allowed to catch or eat the Road Runner, unless he escapes from the grasp. 

LESSON LEARNED:

Whatever weapon is raised against you will not work. GOD can remove the weapon right out of the devil's hand. GOD can have the weapon destroy itself. GOD can even allow the weapon to strike, but to no avail. Or GOD could even have the weapon bring about some greater good that eliminates the pain from the blow. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

That devil can try every crazy trick, but we are able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us! We, with God, can break the rules, run through rocks, and confound the enemy as to how we are still alive! 




So I leave you with a LOUD BEEP BEEP! (That means Hallelujah and Thank you Jesus that no weapon will prosper Think of that every time you hear the road runner.)

Love, Peace, and Hair Grease! KIM