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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