A hard lesson brought home--

[Duane]

I learned so much from this bad experience that I have to share it in brief.

I made the mistake of cat-napping late evening and opening the window a "crack" for some fresh air to come rushing in. 
It was just open wide enough for our cat "Freebie" to climb through and jump out to the ground!  When we discovered her missing my wife, Betty burst into tears with worry and I felt that PANIC that comes with worry over "the worst" happening--
getting hit by a car, stolen, lost, hurt/killed by a stray dog--oh the internal agony!  AND, it was ALL MY FAULT!

All of a sudden NOTHING MATTERED --phone calls, reading the newspaper, television shows, reading a book--NOTHING! 
ALL evening activity STOPPED and we went looking and calling her name.  After about 45 minutes we just went inside and turned it over to God to watch over her!  (yes, my dear wife had to remind me of how stupid and careless I was!  I conceded.

Then, I got the urge to go back outside one more time--and when I did I caught a glimpse of her running back between houses next door.  I went after her but didn't find her!  She KNEW that she did wrong and sneaked back to the house and
when Betty opened the door she ran in and laid down "like NOTHING HAPPENED"!!

I came back to find Freebie safe and Betty relieved!  We immediately thanked God for "our" finding her; and, keeping her in His care!  So what is my point?

I thought about Jesus and the lost sheep story.  How Jesus left the 99 and went out with the ONE PURPOSE of finding THAT SHEEP!  Nothing else mattered until He found that lost sheep!

Then it occurred to me:  Freebie WILLFULLY LEFT our home, DELIBERATELY ran away, REJECTED the safety, food, shelter, veterinarian care and OUR LOVE! 

Never once did it occur to me to TORTURE our cat for evermore inside our heated oven!  We just poured our LOVE on her because we FOUND OUR LOST CAT!  Our HOME was once again "all in all"!

Now this is a CAT we are talking about!  HOW MUCH MORE would God love His creation and want to SAVE EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!  How could anyone believe he would TORTURE them upon finding them?  I once did!  What was I saying about my concept of the nature of God?

I learned a lot!

[onelovedread]

Seems to me that 'Christendom' could be the one in the situation who accuses God of "of how stupid and careless (God) I was" in creating man but being able to save Him, but instead condmening Him to eternal hell. Thank God, He does not concede (that He is stupid and careless) as the "churches" would have us believe.
I love your post, Duane.

[rimandok]

Nice one, bro. As for my family, we never found our kitten again. My daughters are devastated.

[Deborah-Leigh]

Thank you for sharing your heart warming story with us Duane.

At time of this writing 109 views are on this thread.

It re-minds me of the "butterfly effect" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect because your account is as a manifestation of love, shining light upon what is happening to humanity, as we are being created into the Image and Likeness of Christ.

For that, THANK YOU!

Arc

[zee325]

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing 

[cjwood]

amen duane!  i was thinking of the same passages in scripture about searching diligently for the one lost sheep, leaving the others behind, this past saturday night when i was searching for one of my dogs that got out our side gate at 2:30 in the am.  i had been up late reading and let the dogs out before going to bed.  we had a fence guy come earlier on saturday to check our back gate, and we neglected to put the lock on the gate so the dogs don't hit the gate latch.  one dog came home quickly when called, the other dog (all black in color) put her nose down and took off running.  i literally ended up in the brush/greenbelt which runs behind our neighborhood, with flashlight in hand, calling and searching for this one lost dog.  now it was 3:30 am.  i wasn't thinking about the coyotes and other wildlife that utilize the greenbelt/bush area.  i just NEEDED to find my dog.  i told Jesus so as i was crouching down making my way thru the oaks, cactus, devil vines, etc.  well, at 4am i got her. 

no way was i about to scold her or discipline her for not coming back to me (and my ex).  i was so grateful and happy to see her.  she knew she had done wrong. 

so, amen duane, amen. 

claudia

[Gina]

Perhaps the shepherds of Mystery Babylon don't realize how they use fear to cause people to hate their (or God's) enemies.... or maybe they do! 

People love certain people and want them saved (safe and sound).  Just like you love your cat.

People also hate certain others immensely and want them to suffer for the crimes.  (I'll put myself in the equation: I don't like pit bulls who rip people and sweet little kitty cats to shreds, so I can sort of empathize, though dogs don't suffer -- they're merely "put down").    It's hard for them to imagine the ones they hate coming to "terms" with God; though we know it is possible -- all we have to do is look to the Apostle Paul as an example.

What I realized not long ago is that, for everyone I may have hated and wanted to suffer for their grotesque crimes, there had to have been at least one other person who loves that person (like the parents or a sister, or a wife, or a child?), and prays/ed that they would be "spared," because they know that person and what brought them to that point of committing unspeakable crimes in a way I could not possibly.

I believe the Lake of Fire will be a very humbling experience for all who must have their part in it -- including the Elect.

[deblynn]

Great analogy, Duane--and to Claudia about her dog!  As a lover of both cats/dogs, this was easy for me to relate to.  I am deeply involved in caring for a feral/stray cat colony(all of them are TNVR'd), and I know all of my "children" by name.  I pray for their safety, and trust the Lord that He will continue keeping them, especially when I don't see one for awhile.  We have "kitty cottage shelters", but they don't always avail themselves of this resource.  Our indoor cats don't realize how good they have it in the house.
God bless.
-Debra

[lauriellen]

  loved it duane....

[Mbongiseni]

Hi All
Ya it's a hard ...and a humbling lesson for "All did go out of the way... there is none doing good, there is not even one."

God Bless
Mbo