Since I seem to be on an animal roll lately with recent blogs about cows and chickens, someone asked me if I had a story about a cat. Just happen to have one.
When my children were still living at home we have several cats and a big dog around our house. The cats were free rangers and the dog owned the back yard. One cat in particular was a mighty hunter. She was always rounding up various critters to munch on and on this day she had found a rather small rabbit.
The sounds that a rabbit make when in the mouth of a cat are not all that pleasant and my children were not real happy with this cat’s conquest of the morning. My kids began to chase the cat around yelling at it to drop the bunny. After some strong words and a few gentle slaps on the back of the head, the reluctant cat complied. The bunny, who did not realize that my children were there to help it, took off like, well, like a scared rabbit.
With the children in hot pursuit of the frightened little thing, the bunny was quickly grabbed by a second cat that came out of the bushes. The scene was repeated with shouts and slaps and the bunny was free yet again. As it rounded the house this time there was yet a third cat laying on the sidewalk that the panicked bunny proceeded to jump over. You guessed it, more chomping, yelling and head swatting.
Free once more the rabbit resisting all pleas to stop running and let my kids help it escape rounded the house and was grabbed my the dog and pulled through one of the holes in the fence. The smiling face of the surprised dog was the last thing the bunny ever saw. Being pulled through a hole in the chain link fence was the final straw. Perhaps the bunny died of a heart attack before it was snapped in two, maybe not. This was a sad end to the bunny’s story, the cat’s meal and my children’s hopes of rescue. The dog however, seemed happy.
As I contemplated this ordeal later on, several things dawned on me. First, when we are controlled by fear we typically do not make good decisions. Often we can make really bad ones that only complicate the mess we are in. We can run wildly thinking we are getting away and the truth is we might be heading towards a stronger set of teeth.
Second, help sometimes comes in packages we don’t recognize. The rabbit did not trust my children and instead relied on its own strength and giftings to get away. Simply submitting to the help provided would have provided a way of escape. Relying on agility and speed, in this case ended very badly.
In addition, there really are dangers around that can have a drastic impact on our life if we live in panic mode. The Scripture tells us in multiple places that we have a foe and Peter states he is like a roaring lion (a large cat BTW.) We must be careful or we will be deceived or possibly devoured. We must learn to rest in the grace of our God and not exclusively rely on any physical gifts we may possess. The Scripture also mentions armor and weapons for our usage and we would be wise to get to know them!
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. Running around panicked about the government, money, the future, criminals, whether I am married or single, or what a bunch of folks are doing who are outside of my realm of influence, will not lead us into peace and rest. In fact, it might just lead us into a chain link fence and a smiling face we don’t want to see.
That’s my HBDA opinion – Pastor Jeff
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