Be Still With God
I am reminded of a story I used to tell, many times from
the pulpit, many years ago. It happened in Tucson, Arizona.
There was a certain canyon where Bro. Branham went to pray
and where I, too, chose to go one day. I, like this woman in
the story, had determined to get alone with God...to be
still so that He could speak to me.
I pulled my car up to the edge of the mountain area that
contained the canyon and parked. As I exited the car, a huge
dog, Great Dane, came charging at me with a deep, echoing
bark. He was slinging slop everywhere from his massive jaws
and he slopped all over me. I have never feared dogs and
since I received Christ have found a perfect peace...a love
that casts out fear. I wasn't afraid, but I was cautious.
Great Danes are usually friendly and this one was no
exception. He wasn't attacking me...well, not in fury,
anyway. He was bounding up in hopes of some
attention...maybe a scratch on the ears. I did just that
hoping that would settle it and I could get on with my plan.
It didn't work that way. He would not leave me after that.
I turned away from him and started hiking up the mountain. I
was a lot younger then (this was in the early 70's...1973 or
so) and I could handle some rough terrain. I was in
excellent shape from my trade and not too far gone from the
military service. So, when the Dog showed signs of following
me, I stepped out briskly and chuckled to myself, "Ha! He
won't last long in this terrain...he'll turn back." There
were two trails up to the area I sought and I chose the
steeper narrower way. This I did for two reasons. One, it
was shorter, though more difficult. And two, I knew that dog
couldn't make the trip. I would shuck him there. And so, on
I went.
Just for a second I had a thought. "Be careful whose love
you reject. Be careful how you treat others", something said
in my mind. I thought. 'Right! But that is just a dog. Good
lesson, though. Good thought.' On I went.
The trail got narrow and the dog got in the way. He kept
barking and slopping on me and pushing against me. I started
to get aggravated. "Hey, you, mister dog", I said, "You are
a bother. You go on back to wherever you belong. I came out
here to meet God and talk with Him. I ain't got time for no
stranger...no bothersome stranger. If I wanted a dog along I
would have brought my own. Get out of here!" I shooed him
away waving my arms and shouting at him.
He finally went away...a few yards. I wanted him out of
there. I picked up a rock and tossed it just in front of
him. I didn't want to hit him but I wanted him to think I
did. I tossed another one. Good shot! Right under his nose.
He bounded away further. A couple more rocks and he got the
idea. He left. Or, so I thought.
I turned and started back up the trail thinking, "Lord, this
will be so lovely. I will find a quiet place and kneel down
and pray earnestly. Then I will wait quietly in faith until
You speak to me and then I will know that all is well. Oh,
it will be so good to be alone with You. All alone away from
this world and all it's................"
He almost bowled me over when he slammed into my back and he
slopped all over my neck with that awful tongue. The DOG was
back. And I was mad. Then, I thought, 'Keep your peace. He
is just being friendly. He loves you...the dumb beast. You
turned him away, you rejected his love but still he never
left you. How about that?'
And Something inside said, "Just like Me. You rejected Me,
you had no time for Me. You turned Me away many times, but I
Am still with you. It is LOVE that makes the difference.
Love is persistent. Love is patient. Love is longsuffering.
Love is not easily provoked.......beareth all things,
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all
things. God is LOVE."
I looked at the Dog and said, "Come on, you Dog! Just calm
down, will you?" And we started up the trail together.
It got steeper and steeper, narrower and narrower. It got
harder and harder to stay on the trail. The Dog fell behind,
but I thought, 'I told you so. You can't go where I can go.
You aren't built for it. Sorry.' Then I began to talk to God
again and tell Him how good it was going to be to be alone
with Him and hear Him speak to my soul. I was softly
speaking to Him when I heard........."OOOOOWWOO!
OOOOOOOOWWOOOO! OOOOOWWOO!" The DOG was stuck.
He had tried to come around ahead of me and catch up with me
and had somehow gotten onto a ledge from which he could not
escape. He was in a real mess. He couldn't turn around and
he couldn't back up.....he was in a 'wreck'. I said, "Yeah!
You were stubborn. Wouldn't listen to good counsel and now
look at the fix your in. Serves you right."
Something said, "Just like you. How many times have you
refused good counsel? How many times did you ignore My
voice? How many times did you think you could do it a better
way than the one I had written out in the Trail Guide, the
Bible? AND, how many times did you end up hanging out on a
cliff...in a wreck? How many times did you try to go where
you were unable to climb being unprepared. Don't get ahead
of Me."
Now, I knew this dog was preaching to me and God was
speaking to me...had been all along. I looked over at the
DOG. He looked pitiful. He was looking at me in sad
desperation and howling. "OOOOOOOWWWWWooooo!
OOOOOOWWWWWooooo!
Well, it broke my heart. I thought of how many times I had
been desperate without hope, without help. I got tears in my
eyes and I climbed out on that ledge. It was a spooky place.
There was barely room for the dog and now I was trying to
get up there to help the critter. And, he wasn't helping a
bit. Like a drowning man that tries to pull you down, that
dog was doing everything he could to knock me off that ledge
in his effort to get down. He knew I was there to help but
was too fearful to understand that he was making things
worse. I nearly fell down the mountain and I almost gave up
on the Dog. I would have, too, if God hadn't spoken to me
again, in my heart.
"Did I ever give up on you? You were never easy to assist.
You always wanted to do it your way, not My way. You pushed
Me away more than you helped Me to change your situation. I
always had to work INSPITE of you to save you from
yourself."
All of this went through my thoughts as I rolled around
stretching my legs to get a footing and clutching at rocks
to grab a hold and prevent myself from tumbling off that
mountain. I don't know how that big dog ever got out there.
But, I said out loud, "Alright! Hang on. I'm coming back for
you."
When I got there I yelled out, "Stand still! Just be still."
The Scripture came to mind in Psalms. "Be still and know
that I AM God, I will be exalted among the heathens..." It
was on the church bulletin in the Methodist church where I
grew up. My mother taught me to sit still, be still, be
quiet in church. You could hear a pen drop in there with
over 2000 members. It was over the platform in Bro.
Branham's church in Jeffersonville, Indiana when I visited
there. And it is in my own church in Oklahoma City..."Be
still and know that I Am God"
Now when mother said "Be still!" there was no question as to
what she meant. It meant two things. Quit moving and shut
up. I knew what 'Be Still!' meant. That part was without
dispute. But now I was thinking of the other part of the
verse. "And know that I Am God: I will be exalted among the
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." I felt
'religious'.
Before I could think about it further, though, I was
interrupted in my thought by the DOG. "Oooooowwwoooo!" I got
up there with him somehow and wrestled him around...he
seemed to weigh a ton. I got him aimed in the right
direction. Then I got down off the ledge and jerked him down
on top of me and literally packed him...stumbling and
falling...back onto the trail. I don't know how I managed.
It seemed a miracle.
And it was. Not my efforts but the marvelous work that
Christ did to carry me and my sins to Calvary. I started
crying again.
We were back safe now and I remembered my former thought. "I
will be exalted' he had said. "Yea, Lord" I said, "Thou wilt
be exalted among the heathens and in all the earth. Every
knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Thou art the
Christ...the manifested Word. The God of creation. Oh, let
me exalt you in my life! Let me reflect you to a dying
world! Yea, Thou shalt be forever exalted in me. Praise the
Lord!"
I took off running back down that trail as fast as I could
with my hands in the air and screaming, "Praise God! Praise
God! Praise God!" I knew He had met me. I knew He had spoken
with me. I knew He had sent me that dog to preach to me His
wonderful ways and remind me of how much He was in the
simplicity of the little things. He was everywhere...and I
was seeing Him everywhere.
I had counted on being alone.....although I hadn't thought
about it. But I certainly thought I was alone, except for
the dog who was running right along with me. (He was no
doubt wondering what was up with this crazy human.) Suddenly
we came around a turn in the trail...and ran headlong into a
group of women hiking. And, one of them had a poodle dog.
Ooops!
I was embarrassed, red-faced, I'm sure. They had scattered
like chickens before a fox. Here I came screaming and waving
my arms above my head and plowing into their midst. I scared
them pretty good. Then, as I wondered how I could explain
this wondrous moment with my Lord which made me act so
strange to people who may not even know Him and His ways,
the poodle and the Great Dane 'squared off'. They were both
males and the poodle had to assert himself...wanted that big
fella to know it. The ladies gasped. "That your dog!" one
cried in distress. (She just knew he would eat her pet.)
"No, ma'am. He ain't mine." I didn't want any blame for what
might happen next. This dog had caused me enough trouble.
Then, the Preacher came again. Something said, "Deny Me and
I will deny you." I thought, 'Lord, he's a dog. And he ain't
mine. I didn't lie." Something said, "Has he not delivered
My Word to you by example? Is he unworthy of your loyalty?
He would stand by you...don't you think? Even rocks wouldn't
drive him away from you."
I was starting to walk away...and that stopped me. I turned
around and said, "Well, he ain't mine, but he has walked
with me all afternoon and I think he will listen to me. We
been through some tight spots together." Then I raised my
voice slightly and said, "Hey, you dog...come 'ere. Hey,
come over here." I motioned with my hand for him to
come........and, Thank the Lord!, he did. I said, to
myself..."Whew!"
Me and the dog left quickly. I was embarrassed by my
appearance to them....I figured they thought I was some kind
of 'nut'. And I wanted to get the dog away before they
started fussing. We scooted on out of there.
On the way back I considered the day. I never did reach the
canyon. The only time I was on my knees was when I was under
the Great Dane or tumbling down the hill. I hadn't uttered
one word of formal prayer........but He had spoken to me ALL
DAY LONG.
It turned out to be one of the best days I ever spent with
Him alone.
The DOG? Well, when I got back to my car, he went wherever
he came from and never even looked back. Good as he could
preach I would have thought he would want an offering...I
had some dog biscuits in the trunk. But, he left me alone
with God. And he left me with a marvelous tale and a lasting
memory.
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among
the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” - Psalms 46:10
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.
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