Have you ever had a moment in your life where something happened that shouldn’t have affected you, but it did?
You weren’t with it very long. It was only there for a moment and then gone the next day.
You didn’t have much skin in the game or emotional attachment to it.
It didn’t improve your life or help you in any way.
And yet, it hurt so bad when you lost it. It made you cry so loudly and ferociously and you couldn’t understand why it was affecting you so much. It didn’t make sense but you couldn’t stop the emotion.
That is called compassion. That is called sympathy. That is called love.
That crazy array of emotions is not a bad thing, and it could teach you a life lesson and help you learn something about yourself and your God.
That love is giving, it is kind and it can hurt.
And when you show love to one of God’s creations, He will in turn show love to you.
A Love Lost
A couple of weeks ago my family lost our beloved cat.
She was a stray that my husband and I decided to keep that was extremely malnourished. Her nails were so brittle they were ripping off and she was missing part of her ear from frostbite in a MN winter. She couldn’t smell and she threw up 3 times in a row when she ate too fast.
But we loved her. She was my first baby and for the next 8 years, she slept on my pillow every night.
But we moved cross country. To a new house that had a front door that never shut fully and my kids accidentally let her out. Two weeks went by and we couldn’t find her anywhere. No one in the neighborhood had seen her, our signs weren’t helping and social media was useless.
We were praying fervently for God to bring her home. We truly believed that God could do it, but we also knew that His answer to our prayers could be no. It might not have been His plan to give her back to us. And that hurt to consider.
We were so close to giving up and resigning ourselves to her death.
But my husband went on his nightly walk one last time. And as I lay in bed at 11 pm trying to fall asleep I heard him creep into the room and say my name.
I thought for sure he had found her with the way he said my name.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he found something else. Something that had been abandoned and uncared for and needed to be loved.
Prayer and God’s Plan
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
I John 5:14-15
Prayer is a very intricate thing.
Some prayers go unheard and unanswered:
- The prayers of happily and openly sinful people. (John 9:31, Psalm 66:18)
- Prayers spoken and desired for the wrong reasons. (James 4:3)
Certain people’s prayers God loves to hear:
- He hears the righteous. (Psalm 34:17, Proverbs 15:29)
- He hears the destitute. (Psalm 102:17)
- He hears those who do His will. (John 9:31, I John 5:14, John 15:7)
But if you are sincerely talking to God and simply searching and pleading, His ears will always be open to your prayer. (I Peter 3:12)
But we might think our requests will be seen as insignificant to God. Of little worth in His heavenly plans.
And it’s true. Some of the things we care about and pray about aren’t that important to Him. But He loves us and knows the fragility of our humanity.
He understands our emotions and our attachments and what gives us joy. He knows we have a hard time letting go. He knows the hardship He asks of us is just that, hard.
And although the way Jesus prayed in Matthew 6 is much more spiritual and God-centered than praying for a kitten to come home, nowhere in the Bible does God tell us what we can’t pray for. It never mentions anywhere that God doesn’t want to hear certain things from us.
God asks us to take it all to Him in prayer.
And just as the first verse I wrote says, we can have confidence in God giving us an answer. Being okay with whatever answer He gives, yes or no, because it is His choice and according to His will, not our own.
He does hear you. And you can have assurance that He hears you. You have spoken your peace and now you must watch and wait for His plan to play out.
Love Kindly Given
What I saw in the darkness of my room was a little bundle in my husband’s arms. And as the light turned on, my heart reached out and loved something so helpless and pitiful. A stray baby kitten, only a couple of weeks old, found in a sewer drain on the road.
Its eyes were full of infection and couldn’t open. It had ear mites in both ears and filth all over its bottom. It was so skinny and could barely move.
Abandoned by her mother, I’m sure due to health reasons or being the runt of the litter.
But my husband couldn’t just leave her there in the freezing cold night air, oddly, surrounded by 3 other cats looking at her. That is how he noticed her. And I am so glad that he didn’t. Even a poor thing like this is one of God’s beloved creations and deserves love.
We went to bed late that night. I tried to clean the infection while my husband went to find baby kitten milk. Unsuccessful, we had to create our own substitute milk, much thanks to the internet.
We tried to show love to this baby. We tried to be the kindest and gentlest people we could.
And I have never had anything so small love me so much.
She was pressing so hard against us, purring as best as she could. So happy to be noticed and taken care of. Finally enjoying the warmth that she hadn’t felt in a long time.
And even tho we knew she was in very bad shape, and we knew that it was probably pointless what we were doing and possibly prolonging her death, we had to try. Everyone deserves comfort and love even in death.
I ended up taking her to the vet and hoping that there was something we could do to help her bounce back up. We couldn’t afford the world, but we could do our best. And that is all that God would ask of us.
What God Asks
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
I John 4:7-8
There will be random times in your life when God will present you with a conundrum.
He will give you something you think you can’t handle. Something you weren’t prepared for or never desired to have. Or simply something that wasn’t in your plans.
And all he asks is that you see it. You recognize it as a sad thing, a wounded thing, or a thing in need. With the acceptance of what you see, He has in turn given you the responsibility to take care of that thing. To be willing to do your best to love and be kind to the thing, circumstance, animal, or person that no one else wants or cares about.
I Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let all your things be done with charity.”
Meaning: do everything you can to help. Give aid, relief, financial assistance, goodwill, compassion, consideration, concern, kindness and love. Do these in EVERYTHING YOU DO.
He is not saying to devote your entire life to it. Or to go into debt to take care of it. Or harm yourself in the process of taking care of it.
God would never ask you to do these things. Your life is to be devoted to God. You should be financially free and not someone’s financial slave. And God wants you to be healthy and cared for, just like the one you are helping. Because He loves you both the same.
If you need help to take care of this burden, get help. If there is a government program or Christian charity that can help, don’t be afraid to call and ask. Get friends or family on your side to help you carry the burden that God has shown you.
He just wants you to be the vessel He uses to show love to the burden that He treasures.
In a world where people only care about themselves, it is up to us to care about the unseen, the abandoned, and the unwanted.
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:8
God Took Our Burden
We weren’t given much hope at the vet, which we knew. She was given 25% chance to survive. But the vet said animals have bounced back at that percent so it was possible. I left her in great hands and we all prayed for her to be healed and live an amazing life as a new member of our family.
Two hours later I got a phone call from the vet. She had taken her last breath.
I understood and told him I was coming to bring her home. We would bury her in our backyard so she had a better resting place than whatever happens with dead animals at the clinic. We wanted to give her that much.
I was dreading telling my kids when they came home from school. They were so attached to her. She had become their baby and I have pictures of them cuddling on the couch and gently rocking her in their doll bed.
But I also knew this was important for them to go through. I had to teach them through example how we mourn a death and that it will happen and it is natural. I needed to be there with them to answer all their questions and wipe away the tears.
If she had just disappeared, they wouldn’t have learned how to deal with pain and the hardness of life.
By letting them feel emotions, and walking them through it, I had prepared them for reality, the reality they will face when I am not there.
God took her out of this world. Away from the pain and agony that she was feeling. He was being merciful and kind. He was putting her needs first, and not our prayers of healing. Not because they were bad prayers, or wrongfully asked, but because they were not His plan.
The burden that would have cost us tons of money and lots of time caring for and potential problems in the future, was gone. It was no longer our concern. God made the decision and we were fine with it.
So, why were we so sad? Why was it so hard to buy a little box and scarf from the dollar tree to bury her in? Why was I profusely crying in the car on the way to pick her up? Why could I not speak to the vet when she said she was sorry and I just nodded as my lips quivered and eyes became moist again? Why am I still slightly tearing up just thinking about her now, a whole month later!?
She was with us for one day! Why did her death affect us so much?
Because we loved her with a love only God can give. And that love is deep and touches you in a way that no earthly love can even compare. Love is not just an emotion that we have, it deepens and comes alive with action.
We took part in healing the kitten, we showered her with our affection, and we gave her protection and warmth. We gave part of ourselves to her. And now that part was gone. And what was left was a hole where the love we had given was empty.
Death is hard. Even death that we should rejoice in because the person is going to Heaven. But how much sadder it is when Heaven is not their destination.
If I loved and cried for this little kitten, could I say I also loved and cried for those that I know are going to hell? Am I concerned with the people who don’t know Jesus and reject God? Do I mourn for their wounded hearts and broken bodies? Do I care about their soul and wish to take part in their healing process?
They need faith to be healed. (James 5:15) Have I been praying for them?
They need to hear God’s word to gain faith. (Romans 10:17)Have I been telling them?
God showed us His love by dying for them, do they know that? (Romans 5:8)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:16-17
Our kitten needed to be saved from her physical torment, but the people in the world need to be saved from their spiritual torment and deadness.
God Answered Our Prayer
After burying Lilah Baby, we began to think about our other sweet, lost cat again.
While I was at the vet clinic with Lilah, I had the opportunity to talk to a couple there with their dog. I had mentioned to them that we had just recently moved to the area and were getting used to the difference in cultures and climates. Never once bringing up our lost cat.
They suggested we get an app on our phone that would help us connect with people in the area. That way, if we had a question about how to care for a tropical plant or if an animal was poisonous I would be helped by my knowledgable community.
I thought it also seemed like a good place to put a post and picture of our lost Lillith.
But I didn’t think about it until after we buried Lilah. Right after the burial I signed up and started to scroll through the posts, and no joke. Ten posts down and a person had put a picture of our cat on the app asking if anyone knew the owner.
He posted a week ago! It should be old news by now and never seen by my eyes. But because people kept commenting on how beautiful she was it kept going to the top of the feed. I should never have seen this post! And yet here it was.
I was in shock and absolute joy as I read the comments to try and figure out what had happened to her. Apparently, the first week that she was gone this man kindly gave her food and water. He even took off a day of work to keep her in his home and out of a thunderstorm.
The next week she was rehomed to a sweet woman who kept her in her home and also cared for her every need.
After some back and forth with these two individuals and proving that she was indeed mine, we got her back within a day.
You will never convince me that this wasn’t an act of God or was just a coincidence.
This whole scenario was so well-orchestrated and had so many working parts that had to be put in place at the right spot and time and the right words spoken in order to come to the conclusion that it did.
I had to have Lilah, I had to go to the vet, I had to talk to the lady and I had to have the app.
But I wouldn’t be at the vet without Lilah, I wouldn’t have gotten the app without the lady and I wouldn’t have had Lilah if my cat wasn’t missing but I wouldn’t have found my cat if it wasn’t for Lilah and I wouldn’t have seen the post if it wasn’t constantly being commented on and my husband would never have seen Lilah if it wasn’t for the random 3 cats staring at her!
So much had to happen exactly according to a plan. But I also had to act on that plan.
I am not an app person. I do not like having a bunch of apps on my phone and I had never even heard of the app that I downloaded. Typically, I would never have downloaded it. But I was led to.
And who brings a pretty much dead cat to a vet? Most people tend to just let them die in peace in their homes with the comfort that they can give. But I was led to.
And who has the curiosity of a cat to wonder why 3 cats are huddled together and looking in a sewer? My husband. Because he was led to.
We followed the leading as God gave it to us.
But if we hadn’t loved Lilah and done our best with what God handed to us, we would never have found Lillith. She already had a new family and home. She would have literally disappeared from our life, never to be heard or seen from again.
God blessed us because of our love for His creation and our obedience to His calling for us to help.
We didn’t have to help her, but God answered the desires of our prayers because we did.
And not only that, but our cat had the best life ever while she was lost. He took care of her more than I could have ever asked or wished for. I truly thought she was under a shed dying. But she was being lavished with love and had all her needs met without us.
We kept His commandments to love others. We did what was pleasing in His sight. So that when we asked, we received the answer we desired from Him, and so much more.
So much had to happen that was in my control but it was also God leading and putting it into place.
But why? Why did it all happen? Did He command my cat to leave so we would find Lilah and care for her? Did He cause this woman to speak to me so I could find the cat? Did He allow Lilah to die so we could learn valuable lessons?
I will never know exactly why it all happened.
But I do know this.
I learned that God answers the prayers of those that love. I learned that doing the right thing is the best for me in the end. I learned that obedience to God will always be rewarded.
So what is it that God is placing in your hands? What burden is He asking you to carry for Him?
Are you willing?
Because if you aren’t, you will never know the joys that could come from that first step of faith.
And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
I John 3:22
