This morning talking to the LORD and thanking HIM for HIS love and goodness to me, suddenly my thoughts flew to the bear. Now bears didn’t mean anything particularly special to me until one day when I was already a great-grandma. Then on a later date, when my grandson Zachary saw me admiring his stuffed bear, he gave it to me and I told him my story of the bear and GOD.
Before my mom and sister went to be with the LORD, we would yearly travel the 1,100 miles out to my teenage stomping grounds, the beautiful mountains in Quincy, California. We’d see Mom and Rose but while there we always met up with our life-long friend, Alan. One year he took us for a day of four-wheeling up dirt roads in Plumas National Forest. It is beautiful country, and we saw many interesting things. We went up to a rickety lookout shack. The steps up to it, were crumbling, and I slipped once going up. Therefore, I didn’t go into the actual outlook station, feeling it a bit too risky. Before World War II, there were five or six of those lookouts on various mountain tops. They were manned, 24 x 7 to watch for forest fires. With communication between the outlooks, any forest fire would be spotted, the location could be calculated, and given to the fire fighters.
Mac and Al had stayed behind to talk and were waiting for me, as I climbed down from what was left of that old outlook station.
Since only Alan knew where he was taking us, Alan led in his four-wheeler for with the maze of logging roads on the mountain side, one sure could get lost easily. Since Alan’s four-wheeler had room for two, I rode with him. Mac brought up the rear, and he hung back, as not to eat as much dust.
Not long after leaving the base of the outlook station, Mac slowed a bit because of the rocks, and gullies in the road, from water runoff. He felt more than saw some movement off to his left but since unfamiliar with the vehicle he was concentrating on maneuvering the four wheeler on the rough dirt road full of holes. Suddenly a bear dashed swiftly cater-corner across his path, not ten feet in front of him. It really shook Mac up.
Mac later described the bear as having all four legs stretched out as he lunged quickly past Mac, seemingly running lickety-split from something, for the bear was running for all he was worth, apparently not aware of Mac at all. It happened so fast, in a split second the bear was gone, Mac was terrified, gunned the four-wheeler, and flew to catch up with us.
Since we couldn’t see Mac behind us, Alan had stopped at a fork in the road, to wait for Mac to catch up. That was the only way that Mac would know which road to take. It wasn’t long before Mac came flying around the bend.
His near tangle with the bear had left him breathless! As the words tumbled out of his mouth, I heard my husband excitedly relate his adventure with the bear. I was silently green with envy. I whispered to the LORD, “I know its childish LORD, but I wish I could have seen the bear.”
Alan took off again, and not ten minutes later, he and I spotted, what Alan said, was the biggest bear he’d ever seen. It was causally ambling down the middle of the dirt road, maybe thirty feet in front of us. He was a beautiful creature, cinnamon brown, with cream colored fur across his neck and upper back, almost like a mane. The moment he spotted us, that fat bundle of fur, turned and was gone up the bank. It was almost straight up on that side of the road, but there was no trace of him as we passed by.
I was so excited! GOD had given me my desire to see a real live bear in the wild. To do that GOD had to preset the exact time and place (Acts 17:26) and must have spoken to the bear just as HE spoke to the ravens and told them to feed Elijah.
“I (GOD) have commanded the ravens to feed you there” (1 Kings 17:4).
Alan laughed at my animation. But when GOD gives you a desire of your heart, it is absolutely amazing! And it gave me an opportunity to witness of GOD’s goodness to Alan and later to his daughter and her boyfriend which shows again GOD keeping HIS word that by setting the times and places HE is giving people opportunities to reach out to HIM (Acts 17:26b-27).
Once more, I found GOD’s word is true. When it is a good thing and the time is right, “No good thing will GOD withhold from them who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).
So, my friends, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and HE shall give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).
Looking unto JESUS, the Author and Perfecter of my faith.
Hugs
Sharon
wakemyear 