I’m Like My Cat

We have a cat. This cat likes to go outside, but he once disappeared for three weeks, and when he came back he was sooooo skinny and sickly that we vowed to never let him outside again.

And for a while, he was happy to not go outside. It was a scary place, after all, and almost killed him.

But then he saw how much fun his siblings (our dogs) were having outside, and he started running at the patio door, jumping up hard against it, and then running away and hiding in the office around the corner.

Did he really want to go outside?

Well, enter the screen house.

We bought this for him, and he excitedly climbed inside. Though he scratched playfully at us when we zipped the door closed, he was happy to sit outside on the deck and feel the breeze against his face.

Until he wasn’t.

He started meowing and putting his claws into the screen holes, collapsing the house in on himself. He would sit on the screen part, perhaps to feel the deck under his feet? To feel the breeze under his fur?

Who knows.

Today, however, every time I tried to set his little house back up, he would immediately pull it over on himself. And meow non-stop. I finally just took the whole thing back in the house, with him inside it, and set it down.

He was NOT going outside on his own. It didn’t end well last time, remember?

The door was unzipped, and he could get out any time, but he refused! He pulled it over on himself again, folding the only door into the middle, blocking his exit.

When I finally intervened and sat it up again, he wouldn’t come out. He knew where the door was. So I went over and folded the door up. After a space of several minutes, he finally emerged.

And this made me think of myself. How often do I put myself in situations where I’m toying with something I know has hurt me in the past? How often do I fight against the protections in my life to try and get back to where I was before Jesus? Even though I know it isn’t a good idea. Even if in the middle of trying to get back there, I realize it’s a mistake.

Sometimes I collapse that screen house on myself and block the door with my stubbornness, so I can’t get free of it.

And sometimes, Lord forgive me, even when the door to freedom and safety is wide open, I sit and debate whether I want to get out of the mess or not.

But praise God He is patient, kind, loving, and speaks to my heart while I’m debating, reminding me of His goodness and the life that awaits me if I’ll just obey Him and take that step.

If you’re struggling with something in your life that Jesus is calling you away from, I encourage you to take that step!! The life we find in Him is a freedom we can’t experience anywhere else. Don’t miss out on the goodness of God because of the pull of your past. He has a lot of good in store if we’ll just obey Him.

Psalm 119:2-6
(2) Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
(3) They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
(4) Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
(5) O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
(6) Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

Psalm 34:7-9
(7) The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
[8] O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
(9) O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

Proverbs 24:1-2
(1) Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
(2) For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.