Finding God in Four Tiny Feet

One of the things the person does who is aware of God's grandeur is to see God at work in unlikely things, situations or circumstances. As I write this, we have recently come through a terrorist attack on America. A lot of people asked why God would allow violent men to fly planes into important buildings. Others asked where He was. Still others sought Him and found Him and some sought Him to no avail. The latter did not fail because He is not there, but rather because when they found Him, He wasn't what they expected. Unfortunately, those that turned to God in the wake of "9-11" (or any tragedy that they find personally unsettling) solely for verses that say "God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1) are possibly setting themselves up for heartache when, once they've made a decision to believe in God, they discover there are sacrifices they will make, crosses they will have to bear, people they will have to love and forgive. God should be much more to us than only a haven or a good feeling. His eternal love for us should not be met with our requests for simple 'fire insurance'. (I realize there are so-called death bed conversions, but I would hardly think they are the norm). Our refuge and our strength, yes--a thousand times yes--but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is no mere security blanket. God undoubtedly allows, and works within, violent tragedies. My concerns are for those who think that is all He does.

But tragedy isn't the only scenario where the one who is captivated by God's awesomeness finds the Alpha and Omega. God is in the rainbow that He sends as a promise to never destroy 'all flesh' with a flood again. He is in the rapid, short breaths of an infant and the slow, cool strides of a walking stick bug. Are you amazed with God when you see the snow falling at night in your car's headlights? If you are a Christian, have you looked at a globe and considered the fact that your best friend created everything on it (except the globe manufacturer logo; even with that, God created the crude materials that went into making the ink that labeled the globe)? Does it awe you to realize how deep the oceans go and how distant the galaxies extend? Have you seen God in your pets?

My wife and I have had three cats together. Now, it's very important that if you are a dog person that you try and suppress your biases at this point because God assuredly uses them, too! To the one who walks the narrow path and acknowledges God's hand in all creation, there is no--in my opinion--room for prejudices when it comes to evaluating mammals. The world would have us think that sheep are stupid and mean, cats are aloof and selfish and pigs are ugly. We don't need to buy into that. Jesus said "My sheep know my voice" but He wasn't saying we were stupid, He was referring to our need for leadership. I'd like to share some brief thoughts on the three cats my wife and I have had (and I trust if you are one who struggles with pet prejudice, you'll humor me until the end of this segment!).

The cats we've had together are named Phantom, Asia and Ehrin. Let me tell you about them. Phantom, male, is about 22 pounds--give or take. He is part Siamese which I'm told is a vocal breed and it's easy to believe. He is utterly beautiful, with blue eyes and a white and brown spotted coat. One of his spots covers one eye (thus the name, in honor of 'The Phantom of the Opera'). Every veterinarian east of the Mississippi that has seen him has marveled at his handsomeness and girth. As I mentioned before Phantom is vocal, sometimes too much so and with a very high pitch. When you walk towards him, he screams at you. When my wife and I go to bed at night, he is the only one to climb on the bed with us and make himself at home. He adores laying on our legs and I don't need to tell you that 22 pounds gets heavy after awhile. Phantom also has a habit of walking very slowly in front of us, looking at us out of the corner of his eye and if we attempt to go around him, will veer--still slowly--in front of us to prevent our passing. He bumps into things from time to time and because of his girth, has a difficult time attending to certain cleaning tasks which will go undefined here (let the reader understand). His beautiful white coat is betrayed by his sometimes dirty extremities.

Asia, our tiny six pound 'black cat with a white diamond on her chest', is no longer among those of us that are living. Her name was originally Phantasia as a sort of pun on her being Phantom's twin sister. Asia was the kindest, sweetest, most reverent and if I can say it without sounding irreverent, Christlike cat I've seen. She was always respectful of us, never 'shouting' or demanding our attention. And she'd sometimes sit behind us without a sound just waiting for us to turn around and touch her even once (though she'd push for more). I once watched my wife working on something in the kitchen for ten minutes, all ten of them with Asia standing not five feet away, staring at her. (I finally told my wife, who promptly stroked Asia's little head). Even with her near perfect traits, Asia was a study in fear. It wasn't until almost a year before she died that she even let me touch her more than once. Visitors were lucky to get that much. Ironically, as I held her at the vet's, waiting for her to be put to sleep due to massive kidney failure she leaned on me like a little girl with her daddy. But save that moment, almost everything scared her.

Contrasted to that is Ehrin, who is fearless. Really. We recently drove from Texas to Illinois and I counted probably seven dead cats along the road. All but one of them were Ehrin's breed. That says something about the daredevil nature of her 'family'. Find Ehrin when she is sleeping or feeling content and you are off the hook but get her when she wants attention and you have a tough row to hoe. Ehrin is relentless when she decides to pursue you. She has stepped under my feet, jumped from tops of shelves and balanced on the heads of pins (practically) to be touched by me. Her purring is deep and she is addicted to human fellowship. Ehrin is also very vocal, her cries becoming louder and more fervent with each moment you ignore her.

Do the behaviors of these animals remind you of anything? Can you see God in a feline? He's always teaching us if we are looking. I'll tell you what I see. When I look at Phantom with his annoying whine, sometimes dirty bottom and inconvenient bedtime attendance I'm--unfortunately--reminded of most of us. We are dirty. We are annoying. We are soiled and impure before a most Holy God. "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from this body that is death?" (Romans 7:24) Like Phantom stumbling about in front of me when I am trying to get somewhere, so we are as we walk the path God has before us. It's slow and gradual, too, and I wonder how often we get in God's way either through disobedience or apathy. But then there's God. He welcomes us to sleep on His bed to purr and curl up across his chest. Though we are dirty, He finds us beautiful and He loves us and feeds us. Despite our 'cosmetic' and personality imperfections, He loves it when we--dirty feet and all--look at him and speak.

Then there's Asia. My heart broke when we had to put her to sleep. Nothing could have prepared me for that moment. But her death has made me think a lot about God. As much, if not more so, as her living did. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). The NASB says 'cease striving'. That was Asia. Never worried about whether she was doing it right, never concerned with how she looked (with her pygmy panther appearance). She just enjoyed being in our presence. What about you, do you enjoy being in God's presence? Do you have the peace in your heart to just sit there and wait for Him, to listen to Him? Or are you busy trying to look good to him or your neighbor? Are you concerned about paying the rent this month or if you will eat three meals tomorrow or are you, like Asia, willing to let the others eat first knowing you'll get what your Master promised you? (Matt 6:25-34). Sometimes we are fearful like she was, running from the very things that can comfort us. Whether it's because we have sinned or because we have a wrongful understanding of God, we can sometimes shy away from the presence of a God who is chasing us. But He loves us and He knows infinitely more than we do and we can and should trust Him. And if you are facing death or something frighteningly close to it, know that your Father holds you as I held Asia in her last minutes and He would never leave you alone. The One who never leaves us or forsakes us will cradle the backs and kiss the foreheads of His children, whether they face eternity or the loss of their house.

Fervency. Passion. Pursuing God. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

"I'm not going to bed until you speak, O Lord"

A burning in our hearts, not unlike those on the road to Emmaus when Jesus was walking among them. The minute Ehrin's personality became apparent to me, I drew these parallels. Ehrin is the epitome of zeal and passion. As I have written the last few paragraphs, Ehrin has visited my desk no less than four times. Each time she came in here, she cried to me and purred, practically begging me to just touch her. No treats, no cuddling, no games or toys, just touch me. Bless me with your hand. Her face filled with urgency and near panic. Her voice rising each visit in pitch and octave. Though I am in bed, if my neighbor is knocking at my door, asking for bread, because he is persistent I will bless him--to paraphrase the parable. God will bless the life that seeks after Him. There are those believers who will be with Jesus in the end who had 'fire insurance'. There will be those that played it safe and payed their tithe and sang in the choir and watched Christian TV and hung out with Christian friends and were content to get their ten minute conscience clearing devotions in. There will also be those that didn't play it safe, those that said 'Here am I, send me', with a feverish pitch in their voice and a reckless willingness in their heart. Those that practically run toward God unafraid of death or disease or trial simply because Christ has called them and they trust Him. Are you at that place? None of us has arrived, but would you say along with the father of the demon possessed boy, "Help my unbelief"?

Finding God in four tiny feet. Seeing the I AM in a clove of garlic. At first blush, that may look irreverent until we look at what a clove of garlic is. For instance, did you know there are over 60 active constituents in garlic and it's active against a vast number of bacteria including tuberculosis, shigella, e coli and salmonella? There are many strains of bacteria that are resistant to conventional antibiotics that are stopped cold by garlic. In addition, researchers are discovering that it can play a major part in boosting our immune systems and keeping our bad cholesterol in check. Much more could be said. No wonder our Lord said in Genesis 1:29: "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." If you are a believer, you should be very pleased to know that your Father in Heaven cares so much about you that He created foods for you to eat that also heal you and keep you well. See the I AM in a garlic clove? Why not?*

It confuses me that people feel like they have to chase God. Remember Jonah? He didn't exactly chase God, more like ran from Him. God chased him! Remember when Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree before they even met? He was chosen by God before the foundations of the earth to be one of Jesus' disciples. God wants us. He wants to have a love relationship with us. He is complete and omnipotent with or without us, He doesn't need us in the sense He's unfulfilled without us. But He wants you and I to be His hands and feet and lips to a lost, hurting world, a world more concerned with when the next terrorist attack is going to be or who will win the newest episode of 'Survivor'. I'm convinced that we don't have to go looking for God. He's everywhere and always has been. Some people fill churches and stadiums to see what God is going to give them or what He has for them. They want to hear promises and prophecies, see healings and hear testimonies. Men and women gallivant on national Christian television claiming they have witnessed miracles but never seem to back them up with anything more than their own tongue. The Bible talks about this.

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Is it time for us to stop looking for God in all the wrong places? Instead of 'expecting' something from Him or asking His Spirit to 'come upon us in a special way', should we be humbling ourselves before Him and loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us? (Matt. 5:44) It grieves me to no end to turn on certain TV channels that air Christian broadcasting wherein the different hosts and guests go on ad nauseum about how many satellites they've utilized overseas and how God is great, God is great, God is great but, "send your money in now or He won't be able to bless you a hundredfold". It grieves me because there are also people in the same name of Christ, asking me to pray for the persecuted church, who are starving and tortured, abused and maimed. Are these people, these martyrs, lacking in faith because they are suffering and aren't receiving their hundredfold? Does the 'gospel of gold' not apply to people getting their hands dirty for Jesus? "Can't we all just get along?" Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear......

God is everywhere. You really don't need to look beyond your own nose. The more you know about the world (as a physical place) and your own body, the easier it will be to find Him in the details. When you start to think about God being everywhere, it becomes easier to find Him in a fiery orange sunset or four tiny feet.

{*More on garlic can be read in Stephen Harrod Buhner's book, "Herbal Antibiotics" by Storey Books}