Our Hamster is missing.
Somehow the cute little thing (read that with sarcasm) managed to climb out a hole at the top of the cage (that had been covered with duct tape) and must have made a 4 foot leap of death onto the floor and scurry away. We’ve looked everywhere. The poor hamster has but three choices: continue to elude us, manage to get out of the house into our water-filled yard and the coming hurricane, or possibly be eaten by a snake (we recently caught a LONG black snake in our house) if there are any around.
But as I sit here listening to the gathering storm outside (Hello #Sandy!), I’m thinking that we are so much like this hamster. I know, where is this going? Try to follow me here. Our hamster had everything he needed…..food, shelter, water, safety. And yet he has run into what will be certain disaster for him.
Isn’t that what we sometimes do with God? I know I do, frequently. Instead of running to Him for the very things we need, we run far and fast away, into what will be certain disaster.
I don’t know why storms come. And I’m not talking only about Sandy, I’m speaking of the storms of our lives. The very dark days. The catastrophic news. The heartache. The days when it would be easier to just give up. I don’t know why God allows them, but He does. It rains on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45) And when these storms come, we are rightfully shaken. Oh, how my soul has been shaken! And sometimes the storms seem to never end. They continue to batter our souls time and time again. Over and over. But what are we to do in those dark moments? Where are we to go?
There is nowhere to go except to Jesus (John 6:68). We are to run to Him just like this Psalm says in 57:1:
We are to cry to Him for mercy. But this is so hard to do. I know!! My stubborn, rebellious soul knows that full well! But just like our hamster denying his shelter, sustenance, and safety, when we run away from God and do not cry to Him for mercy, we will be left wandering about while the storms of destruction wrack our souls.
But, my friends, there is a better way. There is a way to peace and safety. And I’m preaching this as much to myself as I am to my few readers. We don’t have to run away. We don’t have to run away. Instead, our souls are called, urged, welcomed, to take refuge in God, in the shadow of His wings, till the storms of destruction pass by.
***UPDATE: We FOUND OUR HAMSTER!! The silly thing ran right out into the living room while we were watching a movie. We cornered the bugger and caught him–or her—and it is safely back in it’s cage, with food and water and the hole patched up with a better solution than just duct tape. So, our hamster is once again safe and sound from certain destruction. Thanks for reading!
Kathy Collard Miller says
Great application! I have a little hamster heart.