Annie and the Holy Spirit

I may have told you before, but we have a large German shepherd, Annie, so large (at 120 pounds) that she is bigger than most male shepherds.

Annie is also the most sweet-natured shepherd we’ve ever had. If you came to our door, she would greet you, and her bark and growl would scare the spit out of you. But the truth is, if you came into our house, she would lick you to death.

Annie is a long-haired German shepherd who sheds dog hair all over the house. Anna even has a throw pillow embroidered with “No Outfit is Complete Without Dog Hair.” Given all that shedding, Annie has to be groomed periodically. After the groomer (who loves Annie) finishes with her, Annie looks about half the size.

Yesterday, we took Annie in to be groomed, but before we could get her inside, Annie slipped out of her collar and leash in the parking lot and ran free. I’ll spare you the details, but given her size, Annie scared everybody in that shopping center. One lady, seeing Annie coming, hugged her little poodle tighter and looked like she was going to have a heart attack. (I almost said to her, but didn’t, “Why don’t you get a real dog?”)

One of my favorite quotes is from the late Donald Grey Barnhouse, “All of life illustrates Bible doctrine.” That’s true. As I watched Annie run free, I thought of the Holy Spirit. (Well, not just then, but later. We were too busy chasing Annie at the time.) Jesus, speaking of the Holy Spirit in John 3:8, said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Annie, as she ran free, was like the wind Jesus described. Nobody expected a German shepherd to suddenly appear out of nowhere, especially the lady with the little poodle. Suddenly, without warning, the lady looked into the face of a large and ferocious German shepherd. That’s the Holy Spirit. We’re minding our own business, and then everything suddenly changes as the Holy Spirit shows up out of the blue.

There is an interesting text in Acts 19:2 where Paul encounters some new believers in Ephesus: “And he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’” Many of us are like them for good reason. It has to do with the Holy Spirit’s “job description.” The focus of the Holy Spirit is to point to and glorify the Father and the Son, the first and second persons of the Trinity. Years ago, I wrote a book on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Follow the Wind. It was maybe the hardest book I ever wrote because the Holy Spirit wasn’t that happy with a book written about the Holy Spirit.

It is no accident that one of the metaphors for the Holy Spirit is wind that comes out of nowhere when we least expect it . . . a Bible verse we hadn’t noticed before, a sermon that felt designed for us, the impact of a friend’s casual comment, a book we discovered at the exact right time, or a sudden feeling of relief and peace. That’s the Holy Spirit and a “God wink.”

I just stopped writing this letter to you to talk to an old pastor friend. He and his wife have gone through some very dark and hard times—two of their sons committed suicide, and my friend’s wife has been struggling with cancer. Their church elders have loved them well and insisted that my friend take a sabbatical to mourn and heal. My friend said that during this time, they visited different churches each Sunday, and in every case, it felt like the pastor had written the sermon just for them. My friend thought, “Who told the pastor about us?” Actually, it was for them, not by the preacher, but by the Holy Spirit.

There is another way the Holy Spirit is like Annie. As I mentioned, Annie is the most loving dog we’ve ever had, but she looks scary. That lady with the poodle was scared when Annie approached her, and her poodle was as frightened as she was, but Annie didn’t want to attack anyone . . . she just wanted to play. When we have people in our house, Annie doesn’t hide or growl; she runs from person to person, wagging her tail and waiting to be petted. God’s Spirit can seem scary, too. That shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, God’s Spirit is God, the sovereign ruler, creator, and sustainer of everything. You’ve heard me say that if you’ve never stood before God and been afraid, you’re probably worshiping an idol. But it’s also true that if you’ve never stood before God and been loved when you knew you didn’t deserve it, you’re probably worshiping an idol, too.

We recently came home from vacation. During that time, we boarded Annie at our vet’s office. (Like the groomer, they love Annie a lot.) When we went to pick Annie up, Anna said, “I hope she still recognizes us and isn’t angry that we didn’t take her with us.” She shouldn’t have worried. Annie was ecstatically delighted to see us. If Annie could, she would have laughed, danced, and spoken in tongues. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happier dog.

This morning, my friend, Rick Probst, out of an Atlanta radio station (Faith Talk Atlanta 590), interviewed me. Rick referred to Key Life’s focus that God wasn’t angry, and asked how one could come to that “knowing.” He said, “Sometimes I struggle with that and think he is.”

I said, “Welcome to the club,” and then told Rick (and his audience) that it can only be fixed by going to God and not leaving until we’ve been loved. “The problem with many of us,” I said, “is that we leave before we get loved.” Many of us think God needs us. He doesn’t. God was doing fine before we came along, and he will do fine after we’re gone. God wants to love us. How do I know that? The Holy Spirit told me. It’s what he does. So, don’t make promises or deals when you go to God. Just stay until you’ve been loved. Annie’s love is unconditional, and so is the love of God’s Spirit.

Another way Annie and the Holy Spirit are similar is that both are big and strong. Little gods do little things. Sometimes, we forget that we worship a very big and sovereign God. Pete Alwinson, one of Key Life’s voices, is fond of saying that “God is large and in charge.” He is. In describing what happened at Pentecost and the Holy Spirit’s coming, Luke said, “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind” (Acts 2:2). The operative phrase here is “like a mighty rushing wind.” That would be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t some ethereal breeze. The Holy Spirit is a “mighty rushing wind.”

A friend tells the story about two men hiking in the woods when a lion approached them. As one of the men started running, his friend pointed out, “That lion is faster than you are, and you can’t run that fast.”

“I don’t have to outrun the lion,” replied the man. “I just have to run faster than you.” The Holy Spirit is a lion, but a good lion. You don’t have to run.

There is one other thing about Annie being like the Holy Spirit. Annie is, after all, a German shepherd and naturally protective. We’ve had several German shepherds over the years. All the past ones are in heaven. (If you don’t believe in “doggy heaven,” just keep your spurious theological views to yourself.) All our shepherds have made us feel safe, and Annie isn’t the exception.

When our daughters were small, and Anna was at a meeting, sometimes in the evening, I would visit church members who were patients at the hospitals around Boston, taking the girls with me. I also took Barnabas, the family shepherd. I would put Barnabas in the front seat with the girls sleeping in the back. And I always locked the car doors. I didn’t lock the doors to protect our daughters. I locked the doors to protect anybody who dared approach the car while our daughters were sleeping. Barnabas would have eaten them alive.

Years ago, I worked for a North Carolina radio station. I did an evening program, which, as I remember it, had pretty good ratings. The sports director had a program before mine, and I produced it from the control room. The sports director was also a bully. This particular night, he had done something (I don’t even remember what it was) that was quite demeaning towards me, and I was angry. I walked out of the control room and to the studio where the sports director was getting ready to do his highly-rated program. I blush when I tell you this, but I was on him like “ugly on an ape,” yelling at him with language that would make the proverbial sailor blush. When I got back to the control room, to my horror, I realized that I had turned his microphone on, so what I yelled was broadcasted to his large listening audience. I knew I was toast and would be fired. Do you know what happened? The radio station didn’t receive a single call or letter of complaint. At the time, I thought the listeners simply thought the sports director deserved it as they listened to my tirade. I’m older and a bit wiser now. While that may have been true, I know it was the Holy Spirit.

Annie is a kind and loving shepherd, but don’t mess with those she loves. The Holy Spirit is that way, too. You may not know or feel it, but wherever you go and whatever you do, you aren’t alone. God’s Spirit is present in your life. So, you don’t have to, as it were, lock the doors, defend yourself, or yell or fight. That’s Annie and the Holy Spirit’s job. Both do it well.

He (the Holy Spirit) wanted me to remind you.