Click for song “He Knows My Name”
“That’s my little baby…” she was able to whisper before she burst into tears.
The emotion of the moment was overwhelming. Even though I had just met these people I was now swept up in their grief; emotion was rising to the surface of my own heart. It was the painful closure they had wished would not be the case, but deep inside knew it to be the most likely of endings.
She began with the utmost of care to stroke the head of her little beloved dog. She gently wrapped the broken and lifeless body of this special member of their family in preparation for the journey home and the final stage of their heart wrenching goodbye.
I mentioned how providential it was that we discovered their dog on this remote portion of our property. She thanked me for the role I had played in helping them bring closure to their grief-stricken last 4 days. She indicated they had been praying that God would help them in their search. Her final words to me were,
“You are the answer to our prayers.”
I began to realize the great lengths to which the Lord had gone to answer their prayers to find their little dog that was carried off from their back yard by some sort of carnivore…
I had just phoned them in response to a message I found taped to our mail box:
“Lost Yorkie. Please call 250-764-xxxx if you find her.”
Earlier in the day Anne and I had walked to our neighborhood store to get a Globe and Mail to sit in the sun at the coffee shop to relaxing by chatting, and reading the paper while we enjoyed our preferred form of caffeine. At the tail end of our long walk we cut through the far corner of our property – which we never do. I can’t remember the last time we walked through this steep brush and tree covered area of the yard.
That’s when a Magpie caught Anne’s eye. It was on a dark lifeless object. She wondered if it could be a pet. On a number of other occasions we have found deceased neighborhood dogs and cats on our property – typically the prey of coyotes.
I pushed my way through the bushes to investigate and discovered it was indeed a little dog. With no collar on its neck I had no one to call.
Later that day I was suddenly moved by a burst of motivation to zip out to Rona to buy some parts I needed for a home repair I had been procrastinating about for months. When I came home the note about the lost Yorkie was taped to our mail box. They had come by while I was away. They had been searching the neighborhood for 4 days and had finally reached our street.
I phoned. They described their dog to me. I told them I think I found her. They came and got closure, and an answer to their prayers.
Even though this was a heart-breaking situation, my new friends recognized God had answered their prayers. He had gone to great lengths to coordinate Anne and I with a number of other factors to bring resolution.
I realized again, God hears us when we call. He cares about our lives. He cares about us far more than we realize. Oftentimes we think He doesn’t hear, He doesn’t care, He is disengaged, but it’s not true. He is very much engaged – He hears our prayers. Our prayers may not be answered the way we think they should be, but He answers out of what is best for us.
God loves you and is far more engaged in your life than you realize. He cares about the big things and the little things. His invitation is for us to trust Him with all aspects of our lives; to discover His great love for us in everything. And then to make His love known in everything we do.
Whatever you are going through, God cares and He hears you when you call. Whatever you are facing offer it to the Lord, look to Him for your hope, provision, healing and resolution.
He hears when you call.
Psalm 34:17
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.”
Psalm 145:19
“He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.”
Luke 12:6, 7
“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
1 John 5:14
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”