“God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.” Romans 8:16 (The Message)
A few months back we discovered a stray kitten running around the neighbourhood, and being the patsies we are, we took her in. She was thin, I daresay, emaciated; scared to death, and skittish to the point we thought we would never see all of her at any given time. We got used to seeing her tail as she darted under the bed, or her ears as they poked out to see whether the danger was gone. And everything constituted danger, the kids (I’m with her on that one!), noise, a fluttering piece of paper, in other words, anything!
Slowly, over the last five months she has come into her own in the house. We have been careful to show her nothing but kindness, and love. We have never raised our voices to her, and we have gone out of our way to give her extra attention. She is a sensitive soul, nothing like the other two cats, who to be fair, have never faced a day’s hardship in their lives. She has, and for a long time it showed.
Today, though, she can walk into the living room with all the kids, the TV blaring and not flinch. We can pick her up without her immediately going into “flight” mode; but best of all, she’s showing her personality, which is fun-loving, mischievous and outgoing. She is not the same cat she once was (of course the spay was partly responsible!)
I watched her today, as she twined herself around my legs, and chirruped for attention, and thought, “How alike so many of us are to her when we first come into relationship with the Lord.” We have been battered by the storms we have faced in our lives, starved for affection, scared of relationships and never letting anyone see all of us, in case they didn’t like the full package.
But God, in His infinite kindness, gentleness and love ministers sweet healing into our lives, and then we stand tall, knowing that finally, someone loves us! In His sweet presence is the anointing oil that binds up the wounds of the broken-hearted; and the healing that a fractured soul so desperately needs. What better love to experience than the tender love of the Lord? Let Him pour that love out on you today.
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Boy can I relate to that cat!! Not being saved until I was 40 years old gave me lots of things to be skittish about. But like your new found baby the Lord was gentle and loving and caring with me until I found my footing and knew for a fact that He would never allow harm to come to me and that His forgiveness covered all my previous sins. Tears are coming. Thanks for the reminder.
