Of Mice and Men...

Todays devotion comes from a dear saint of Spirit of Grace Church. Thank you Verna for reminding us of a wonderful Savior!!

MICE AND MEN
By Verna Anderson

It was already a crazy day and it was only 8 am. I was running around, making a shopping list for last minute items prior to the preschool Christmas party.

Then, I remembered that I needed to wrap the little truck that Noah picked out to give to another boy in the class. All the wrapping paper was still in the garage in a huge box that remained unopened after our summer move. The box sat just outside the mudroom door, needing to have the packing tape cut so that I could get to the contents. As I stood next to the box, realizing that I had no way to cut the tape, I could hear some rustling over by the deep freezer.

The sound was easily recognizable to me because I knew Keith had been catching mice out there, probably hungry little ones who had found our buckets of corn that we had planned to use to feed squirrels. Yes, I knew that was a mouse, caught in the trap, struggling to get free. I said to myself, that’s fine but just stay over there. I’m not a fan of mice. They are cute but I always think of the times people have had them crawling in their clothing—sends shivers up my back.

I went back into the house to get the paring knife to cut the packing tape. As usual, I got distracted. It happens often. Children need dressing. Lists need one more item added. Those things got me sidetracked and a bit of time passed before I noticed the still unwrapped truck. Must get that knife and dig out the paper and get that done. Once again I went into the garage, this time ready to open the box holding the wrapping paper.

Much to my surprise, the little mouse had made the long trek from the freezer to the mudroom step. The poor little guy stuck by only his front paw. He was working frantically to pull free. Yuck, was my first thought. Keith would kill him and toss him in the garbage but I hate killing things. As I looked down at him, my gaze met his beady brown eyes, his fur was silky smooth and he was actually quite cute, as mice go. In and instant, I decided that I could not kill him. I would set him free but how? I definitely did not want to pick up the trap for fear that he would flip around and crawl on me.

I went back into the house, this time to get a tongs. Then, back out into the garage to pick up the trap with the tongs, walk to the end of the driveway and free our little intruder. He struggled the whole time. How would you feel if you were trapped in a vice and a giant picked up the vice, dangling you in the air? Must have been terrifying. When I set the trap down, he tried again to run away, pulling the trap with him. I caught the trap with the tongs and released him, jumping back to keep away, still thinking of a mouse running up my pant leg. He ran onto the snow and for a moment seemed to head toward the garage. The thought came to mind that he would return to the garage, which would mean his rescue was a total waste of time. Thankfully, he turned and headed toward the flowerbed. The last I saw him, he was hiding in a deep footprint in the snow, catching his breath and contemplating his next move.

My day went on from there, kids to school and party time and even a bit of shopping. I forgot about that mouse until my husband asked why the trap was on the mudroom step. I didn’t tell him I had let the mouse go. He would have thought I was crazy.

I thought of that mouse again this morning and realized that his story was similar to so many of us. We spend our days just living life; not realizing we need a Savior. Then, we get into a spot we should not be and sin traps us. If we are lucky, it does not kill us. We struggle to get free. The fight is hard. The trap is tight on us. We drag the weight of our sin all around our world. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a giant comes and picks us up. Who is this giant? We fight some more because we are afraid of this giant. We don’t know him. Will he kill us? What are his intentions? Thankfully, that giant is a loving God who reaches down and sets us free from our sin. He watches us carefully to see what we will do with our freedom. Will we return to sin or will we set out on a new course? If we are wise, we will take the new path and always remember what he has done for us. We will desire to stay free and out of sin.

Where are you today? Are you wandering around in search of something? Have you strayed into sin, getting caught in its trap? If so, a giant God is waiting patiently for you to look up from your trap, into his loving eyes and accept his gift of freedom.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8