“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;’” (Ps. 46:10)
My dogs are a wealth of information. As I stated in a previous article a few months back, they continually reveal God’s truth to me in quiet moments when I’m perceptive enough to listen to their silent speech. One of these moments happened the other evening as I prepared to turn in for the night.
Dogs are creatures of habit and my dogs, Deion and Bacetti, are no exception. They know that anytime between 9:30pm and 10:00pm, I call it quits, grab their dog beds and head up the stairs. If, for some reason, I’m feeling extra saucy, I may even stay up until 11:00pm and that drives them batty. They pace and stare at me like somehow the planets have become misaligned and I really should do something about it. But this night, I was right on schedule and they raced ahead of me in happy anticipation of the sleep that awaited them and all was right with the world. I tossed their beds on their respective spots on the floor and decided to give my daughter one last “goodnight”, so I closed the door behind me and headed to her room. Well, the “goodnight” turned into a chat and before I knew it, twenty minutes had passed, that’s all it was, twenty short minutes but when I opened the door, you would have thought I had circumnavigated the globe. To Deion, at least. I heard him whining before I even opened my bedroom door and when I finally did, he was standing right there, ears alert, his stub of a tail wagging and a nervous look in his eye. He danced around me as I walked in and followed me around my room, watching my every move to make sure that this time I was, indeed, settling in for the night. He made sure the extra pillows were tossed on the chair, the comforter was folded back, before he decided that yes, I was going to bed now and it was safe for him to fluff his bed, spin in a couple of circles and plop his big frame into his doggy bed.
Then there was Baci. As I entered the room, she slowly lifted her head, looked over and welcomed me with a couple of tail wags and gently laid her head back down on her bed. There was never any doubt in her mind of my return. She heard my footsteps, my voice down the hall, and knew that while I may have stepped out of her range of vision temporarily, I was never very far and I would return. I hadn’t forgotten about her, or Deion, or our plans for a good night sleep. I smiled as I looked over at Baci; so relaxed and content. Then I glanced over at Deion, lying down but still staring at me.
Which dog am I?
When I call on God, am I Deion? Do I pray then stand at the door, heart racing, pacing back in forth saying, “okay God, now? How about...now? Are you there? Any time now...” Or am I like Baci? Do I follow my prayer with patient quietness, knowing that God has heard me and in his perfect timing, maybe not today, maybe not next year, but I will experience the answer to my prayer?
“....you need only to be still.” (Ex. 14:14), “Be still,..” (Neh. 8:11), “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;” (Ps. 37:7), “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;’” (Ps. 46:10), “‘...cease and be still.’” (Jer. 47:6) and so it goes. I know that God has heard me yet I worry and the parade of “but what if’s....” continue. Like Deion, I stand impatiently, eyes wide, heart racing, and occasionally scratch at the door just in case He’s forgotten I’m here but deep down, I know he hasn’t. He’s just on the other side, working things out in His time. His will is being done whether I’m raising my blood pressure, whining at the door or simply relaxing on the couch and enjoying life. One behavior says, “I trust you but....”, the other, “I trust you.” The end result is always the same. He has listened. He will act. In His own time. So, I might as well stand up, return to a comfy place, circle a few times, and be still.
