For anyone who knows me, you might have heard me talk about German Shepherd dogs a time or two (probably, more like a time or 200). I am a big animal lover – all kinds of animals. Even the ones that slither and the ones that crawl on all 8 legs. God displays His grandeur in all His creation.
My husband, Mark and I have had two German Shepherd Dogs. Our first dog was Jake. Our second GSD was Noah. Noah had a floppy left ear and wasn’t as outwardly beautiful as Jake. But as the woman from the GS rescue (where we got Noah) told us, there wasn’t “a vicious bone in Noah’s body.” We got him when he was about 5 years old. He had been abused and was very fearful during our first few months together. But slowly he began to trust us and others. After Noah split a leather leash in two (while he was temporarily tied outside), we also discovered that Noah had separation anxiety!
“Keep Calling Him, Ann”
One day as Noah and I left our house to go for a walk, he got away from me and started to run in the middle of our street. I screamed hysterically every obedience command Noah knew. As he started to round the corner of the hill, just before he would have been out of my sight, I heard a voice in my spirit say – “Keep calling him, Ann.” So in an instant, I went from screaming hysterically to calling Noah in a very happy and excited tone: “Come on Noah, good boy Noah, come on Noah”, etc… 🙂
The Next Thing I Saw Amazed Me
Noah then made a complete 180-degree turn and began to run toward me. He came to me and sat at my feet. All I could do was hug him and thank God for His verbal intervention and for His love and watch-care for all His Creation. As I’m writing this I’m thinking I shouldn’t have been so surprised by what happened, as God tells us in Psalm 50: 10-11: “All the animals of the forest are Mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are Mine.” Soon after Noah’s first ‘running adventure,’ God would intervene for Noah again. But this time, Mark was amazed…
Noah Runs Again
A few months later it happened again! It was a Saturday night (during the summer) and I had just come home from a birthday party. Mark was frantic. He told me that an hour earlier he was going out the breezeway door and Noah slipped by him and ran down the street. Mark chased him in his bare feet (no time for shoes when Noah is on the run) but Noah was running; not to be caught, at least not yet.
The Search Continues… “Oh LORD, Please Let Him Appear”
Mark and I got in his truck and headed in the direction of Noah’s last known whereabouts – a few blocks from our house. We pulled into a business parking lot with the truck facing the street (headlights were on; it was almost dark by then). We sat there for a few minutes looking around but Noah was nowhere in sight. Mark then said a six-word prayer that changed everything. He prayed: “Oh LORD, please let him appear.” Then… there was Noah! He was standing about twenty feet in front of the truck looking in our direction.
The Running Continues…Until the Tackle
As we pulled up slowly in his direction, once again Noah ran. We followed behind him a block or so until he stopped for a ‘sniffing break’. By this time, Mark was ready to move in for what ended up being a ‘tackle’. While Noah was still preoccupied with some captivating smell, Mark jumped out of the truck and ran toward him. Noah looked up and took a few steps. But before he could start running again, Mark tackled him; covering all but Noah’s head, with his body. The reason for this ‘full-body tackle’ move was that earlier that night Mark caught up with Noah. But when he grabbed his collar, Noah shifted his head and got away.
Home At Last
Taking no more chances, Mark picked Noah up from the ground and carried him to the truck. We made it home and Noah went willingly into the house. This was actually Noah’s third running adventure. His first one happened on Mark’s birthday about a year earlier. And that was a true adventure. Noah was gone three days. Then on the third day, he returned home and stood at the breezeway door waiting for someone to let him in.
The Moral of the Story
God cares about all of His creation. We as humans (male and female) are His workmanship, His masterpieces; made in His image (Genesis 1:27). But, as Noah’s ‘adventures’ show, God also cares about the animals that we care about.
How beautiful His love, that He will tenderly yet powerfully break into even our unusual circumstances (runaway dog) and display the reality of His love for us (and all His Creation).
In the Book of James 1:17, Jesus’ brother declares (by the power of the Holy Spirit) that: Every good and perfect gift descends from above, from the Father of lights… Sometimes God stretches out His hand to demonstrate his love and concern for us in the finest details of our daily lives. We might not be able to see Him with our eyes or hear Him with our hearts/ears, but, may these great moments of God’s interventions (the greatest, of course, is The Cross of Calvary) build us up in our faith during the times when He seems silent, but is still so very present/real.
Abundant Life Now 