Pam Padgett ... teacher
Recently there have been two times when my dog has been in a troubling situation. But when I turned to God, I was given exactly what to do.
This dog is quite large and is old. In the past he's gone up and down the
staircase with no problems. But one morning a few weeks ago he wouldn't
go down the stairs, acting unsteady and afraid. He
weighs too much for me to carry and I hoped with rest he might be ok. After three hours, he seemed steadier but still afraid, and I became concerned
because there is no other way for him to go outside. I turned to God and asked what to do,
and was reminded of a neighbor. I called this man and he came. The neighbor was upstairs with the dog and I went
downstairs to get something. Surprisingly, when the dog saw
me go down the stairs and leave him alone with the neighbor, he followed me. By the
neighbor just being there, the problem was resolved! I thanked God for
bringing this man to my attention.
This incident made me realize it was not good for the dog to go up
and down the stairs any more, so I put a gate across the bottom of the
stairs. Everything was fine until a few days ago. I forgot to secure
the gate, and the dog came up the stairs. I saw him as he reached the
top stair ... but then he started helplessly slipping backwards down the
stairs! I quickly tried to help, getting to a step below the
dog and stopping his fall. But what could I do now? He's too big for
me to lift up, and I could only balance him where he was, about 10 stairs
from the bottom of the staircase. If I moved to try to get help, he would
fall down the stairs. I cried out to God, asking what I should do?
Immediately I "knew" to gently and slowly ease the dog down a step at a
time. It was amazing how easy this was to do! The dog tried to walk
down the last stair or two and fell but was not hurt since it such a
short distance. Seeing this, however, showed how very dangerous it
would have been had he fallen the entire distance down the stairs.
(Comments by Joan Boney ... The power of God, the glory of God is in what God did in the above example. It is the "rock" which I spoke of in the previous writing ... The "rock" is that word that comes down from heaven in the specific issue of this present life... Pam goes on to speak of a scripture that tells about the glory of God but the real glory of God is shown in the previous two paragraphs.)
Pam says ...
Each time I think of these two incidents and how God answered my cries for help, providing the exact help I needed in each situation, I've been reminded that God is a very present help in trouble. No matter what we face, God hears our cries and knows what we need to be helped. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)