Great Dog Stories (30 page)

Free Wheelchair Mission doesn’t just distribute wheelchairs. They do it in God’s name. They tell recipients their chair is from God, because He loves them. Their prayer is that the chairs not only open doors to greater physical mobility, but to a relationship with the Lord as well.

I am reminded of a certain cripple in Jesus’s day whose physical infirmity also brought him to the Lord. He, too, got an “ottoman” from his friends. Mark 2:3-5 tells us, “Some men came, bringing to [Jesus] a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”

I doubt forgiveness of sins was the goal this man and his friends were consciously seeking. Nor did it sit well with the watching religious elite. It sounded like blasphemy to them. So Jesus threw in the physical healing to prove His spiritual authority, and told the man to get up and walk—which he did.

As Munchie’s loving master, I need to help him grow and learn and offer him an ottoman when he needs a leg up. God does the same for us, but not always directly. He often chooses to work at least partially through His children, like He did with the paralytic and the young man from Chile. God gives us the incomparable privilege of providing ottomans in His name. Will you listen for His help wanted ad and answer His call on your heart?

Every happening, great and small, is a parable
whereby God speaks to us, and the
art of life is to get the message.

M
ALCOLM
M
UGGERIDGE

P
eter took his golden retriever, Bob, on regular hikes in the local mountains. Bob was fitted with a canine backpack to carry his water bottles, water dish, and dog snacks. If there was any room left over, Peter managed to sneak in a few of his own items.

Bob’s backpack had pouches on the sides with two-way zippers that opened or closed in both directions. Peter made sure the zippers were pulled shut to the rear, not the front. Bob liked to go off-leash and explore on his own. If the zippers were closed to the front, they could snag on the brush and be pulled open and spill their contents.

Of course, one day Peter unintentionally shut the zippers in forward position. During the hike, Bob took off into the hills. When his dog returned, Peter noticed all the zippers pulled open. The water bottles were gone…as well as his car keys.

But it wasn’t the missing keys that had Peter so upset. It was what was attached to his keys. It was the loss of a memento he had carried with him ever since he signed up for the military in 1959: his U.S. Army dog tag.

This little rectangular piece of stainless steel stamped with his name and number had been a part of him for over 50 years. He always carried it with him. And now that it was gone, he was furious. If Peter were a crusty curmudgeon cartoon character he’d have gone beet red with steam hissing out of his ears. He took a quick mental inventory of his worldly possessions and that dog tag topped the list of things he’d be devastated to lose.

After the initial shock wore off, Peter had only one mission: find that dog tag! He scoped out the area that Bob would’ve covered in his wanderings and systematically scoured every inch of dirt, brush, and rock. Peter emotionally flogged himself for zipping the pouches the wrong way. He checked, double-checked, and triple-checked the area, looking for any clue that could help, like a tell-tale water bottle or dog dish.

Hours later, hands and arms scratched by thistles and thorns, covered with dust and sweating like he’d been in a sauna, Peter was ready to give up. He was disgusted, frustrated, and broken. He was 99 percent sure he’d never find that very special part of himself that he had lost.

While Peter was experiencing a form of hell on earth, Bob seemed totally unaware. He was still in dog heaven, enjoying the outdoors, sniffing and rooting around for endless canine pleasures and treasures.

Then, at the precise moment when the proverbial last straw landed on Peter’s back, when he conceded the dark forces of the universe had won, when he was 100 percent sure he’d never see his dog tag again—

Bob sat down.

Bob hadn’t sat down once during the whole search. He’d been a perpetual motion machine. Now at rest, Bob looked up, smiling at his exasperated and broken master.

Peter took a step toward Bob, then glanced down at the space between him and his golden retriever. There, at his feet, completely exposed and glistening in the sun lay—

The dog tag and keys!

It was utterly baffling how he could’ve missed them. He had searched this exact area multiple times. He bent down and picked up his keys and dog tag to make sure it was solid, his name stamped in metal, not some devilish illusion.

Then there was Bob. Peter looked at him, as if waiting for Bob to explain what had just happened. But Bob continued to gaze at Peter with that goofball grin dogs wear to cover up the possibility they’re a lot smarter and wiser than we give them credit for.

The thought crossed and re-crossed Peter’s mind. Did this dog know all along?

Peter vaguely remembers throwing a “what the heck” glance heavenward—not because he believed in God, but perhaps from years of cultural conditioning. People in the movies always glance upward after witnessing a miracle, right?

Peter has never been a religious man. He avoids church like soldiers avoid minefields. He doesn’t pray to God, read the Bible, or sing worship songs in the car. Peter has never had a supernatural or spiritual moment in his life. That is, not until this incident with his dog tag and a golden retriever named Bob. Peter felt incredible relief being reunited with his precious dog tag. At the same time, it was spooky; downright “Twilight Zoney.” And he’ll be the first to admit that it made him acknowledge the possibility of God.

Could it be that ol’ Bob knew something Peter didn’t know? Could it be that dogs see things we don’t see and hear things we don’t hear? Could it be that the realm God resides in is outside the reality of man’s five senses—but it’s there?

The spiritual dimension is not the natural world we see, hear, feel, touch, and taste. It is a supernatural world we can only catch fleeting glimpses of, like a shadow seen out of the corner of your eye that vanishes when you turn to face it. For some, that glimpse of eternity may come through a great sermon, or meditation on a Scripture, or by being swept up in a divinely inspired song. But God doesn’t always speak to people through pastors, TV evangelists, or the Bible on CD. God speaks to some of us in creative, nontraditional ways. He’ll do whatever it takes to get our attention.

The apostle Peter was afraid to be associated with Jesus after He was arrested. Peter denied even knowing his Lord. God spoke to Peter through a bird. “And immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: ‘Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.’ And he broke down and wept” (Mark 14:72
NLT
).

The Old Testament prophet Balaam was trying to force his donkey to carry him in a direction God didn’t want Balaam to go. God literally spoke to Balaam through that donkey. “Then the L
ORD
gave the donkey the ability to speak. ‘What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?’ it asked Balaam” (Numbers 22:28
NLT
). Then God revealed that the donkey had seen the angel of the Lord blocking Balaam’s path. By balking, that donkey had saved his errant master’s life.

So why should it surprise us that God spoke to our twenty-first century Peter through a dog…and a dog tag? Amazing how God gets our attention! How is God speaking to you today?

The church is the great lost and found department.

R
OBERT
S
HORT

E
arly in their marriage, my friends Val and Jim got a female Beagle puppy they named Beazley. Their eldest son was a toddler then, and he and the pup were little together. Beazley weighed only about six pounds…small enough to get lost when her people weren’t watching. And one day, she did.

Val had heard some noise outside and went to investigate. A small neighborhood parade was passing by. She stood watching from her front porch. She never noticed the puppy slip past her and wander away.

Not until later did the family realize their dog was gone. Val’s little boy was devastated. Val was too. She feared Beazley might be lost to them forever. The tiny pup had not been wearing any kind of identification. She and Jim worked for an urban ministry and some female ministry staff shared a house half a mile away. But, apart from them, she didn’t really know her neighbors.

Val called the staff women and asked for prayer. She prayed all afternoon—while her little boy wept. At about 4 p.m., the phone rang. Unbelievably, one of the staff women had seen Beazley near her own home. She had caught the pup and brought her inside. Val went to fetch her and Beazley was home before dinner.

Then and now, Val believes finding Beazley was a miracle. There was a huge park between their home and the staff’s house. Streets changed direction. What were the odds of this tiny puppy winding up in the only place where she would be recognized? But God is bigger than any odds or any problem and He reunited this wonderful dog with her people. Beazley grew to be 25 pounds, lived to a ripe old doggie age, and blessed her family all of her life.

Like Val, I lost something of value that God miraculously restored. One day last year I was taking a walk, glanced down, and saw that the ring I’d been wearing was missing its small emerald.

I had no idea where I’d lost it. I had been many places that day, and had washed my hands with the ring on. But I knew that God could restore that stone. I’d seen Him do this with a friend’s diamond in response to prayer. I’d been speaking with a Bible study pal on my cell phone as I walked, and now we asked God to bring back my emerald if it was His will.

I was in the midst of a home remodel at the time. My contractor checked the traps beneath some sinks for me. No emerald. Two weeks passed, and I figured the jewel was lost forever.