The
Little Stray Kitty
TiffanyAnn Lewis
Scripture teaches us that all of creation points
to its Creator. (Rom. 1:20) The natural
reveals the spiritual and the visible reveals the invisible. On January 5th a stray cat
wandered into my life and revealed something about love. I spotted the cat walking through our back
yard and knew he needed help. We put
out food and water and made a bed in the garage to shelter him from the Northeast
winter. We placed ads in the newspaper
and called all the area shelters but no one claimed this cat. As the weeks wore on, it became apparent
that he was not interested in human interaction bringing the phrase “bite the
hand that feeds you” into a literal sense.
Though I was gentle, patient, and kind, the harder I tried the faster he
ran. Even as I write this, no progress
has been made at contacting Kitty. He
is rude, unthankful, and only comes around when he needs something. We continue to meet our stray cat’s physical
needs but I want to do more than just keep him alive. I want to extend a hand of love and pet him, but when I try he
hisses and runs away leaving me feeling unloved and unappreciated.
The human tendency would be to pull away when you
have extended your love and it was wasn’t well received. Feeling the sting of rejection, we naturally
withdraw our hand so we won’t be hurt again.
Animals and humans aren’t that much different, only animals don’t know
how to emotionalize or rationalize their pain.
Their instinctive response to pain is fight or flight. The wild environment Kitty now finds himself
in has conditioned him that only the strong survive. Rejection has conditioned us that way too, so in order to survive
we get “strong.” We push our feelings
down pretending that it doesn’t matter, pretending it doesn’t hurt. Kitty has decided he’s safer living without
human affection, so now he runs from it.
We run from relationships that have hurt us. We vow never again to be so vulnerable and build a wall around
our fragile heart. Nothing will get in
and no love will get out and the cycle of pain and rejection rolls on
collecting wounded hearts along the way.
Thank God that’s not God’s tendency!
God’s tendency is to go after what has strayed
away, not to withdraw. “If a man has a hundred
sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not
leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to
seek the one that is straying?” (Matt. 18:12)
Jesus is using an example of a shepherd and a lamb
to illustrate who He is, who we are, and what we
mean to Him. He has ninety-nine other sheep, why
would He bother going after just one? Who wants
to be burdened with a stray cat or a stray lamb
that doesn’t seem to care, a straying brother/sister,
parent, child, spouse or friend? The Lord will
go because that one who is straying is very valuable
to Him. No matter what the burden, no matter what
the cost, He will go in the pursuit of love.
How many times do we need to “go”
when the love and kindness we have extended seems
to fall to the ground? When we’re nice to someone
and they talk behind our back? When we’re there
for someone during their time of need and when the
crisis is over they don’t give us the time of day?
How many times do we need to gather up the pieces
of our broken heart and try to give it out again?
“Seventy times seven.” (Matt. 18:22) This
is not a mathematical formula but rather the sum
of never ending forgiveness, never ending love.
Jesus didn’t suggest that we love one another, He
commanded us to. (Jn. 13:34)
In our human mind, love is a feeling
but the Lord is calling us to a more excellent way,
to where love is a choice, not a feeling. Yes there
are feelings and emotions connected to love, absolutely;
it’s the fruit that is produced by the choice to
obey. The Greek language defines 3 types of love.
The type of love the Lord is calling us into is
agape love (Strong’s #26). Agape
doesn’t give love to receive love; agape gives love
because it IS love. “For God so loved
the world that He gave...” (Jn. 3:16)
God doesn’t love us so we would love Him; God loves
us just because He loves us. The essence of love
is in the giving not the getting. It’s focused
on the best interests of the other person, not on
itself or what it is feeling or not feeling. Of
coarse the Lord desires that we would love Him in
return but He gave His Love regardless of our response.
When we choose to love beyond our
emotions we will find ourselves in the presence
of God. “God is love, and he who abides in love
abides in God, and God in him.” (1Jn. 4:16b)
Tears of sorrow become tears of joy as the Father
manifests Himself to us. The Love of God is poured
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5) and
it is this Love that heals us, soothes the sting
of rejection, and completely satisfies our need
to feel loved and accepted. Our cup runneth over
spilling out and affecting others with the Agape
Love of God. The cycle of pain and rejection comes
to a stop at last. HalleluYah!
I may never know the joy of Kitty
rubbing his face against mine or hear the sound of his purr in my ear but that
doesn’t mean that it was all for nothing.
“Love never fails.”
(1Cor.
13:8) Love doesn’t fail, regardless if it is received
or reciprocated. The fact remains the same, every
time love is given, love is revealed. The Love
of God is revealed to us, in us and
then through us.
Maybe today you’re
feeling like Kitty hiding under a car afraid to
allow love to touch you again. Or maybe you’ve
been “bit” once before as you extended your hand
in love and now you’re afraid to reach out again.
Our reward is found in the arms that were spread
wide on the cross of Calvary. Held in the arms
of Christ “perfect love casts out fear,”
(1Jn. 4:18) even the fear of being rejected.
Let’s
go pursue love again. Amen.
*Please remember to spay,
neuter, and vaccinate your pets.
