The Critter
It was a late night. The door to the garage opened and slammed shut. As I watched the news in the den, my husband who had already retired for the night, made several runs between our bedroom and the garage. I was perplexing to say the least, but figured there was a good reason and continued watching the news. It wasn’t long after that he poked his head in the den and hailed me to the bedroom.
There, in the middle of the room was a big blue Rubbermaid bin housing shredded newspaper, a water dish . . . and a little greyish critter!
“Someone’s gerbil must’ve escaped,” Warren assessed the situation. “He’s a friendly little thing.” He stroked the furry back.
We figured the wayward fellow scuttled into our room through the doggie door, and were thankful that WE found him before any of our “varmint seeking” terriers had a chance to provide a life-threatening welcome. Warren carried the big blue Rubbermaid shelter to the garage and headed back to bed while I went back to catch the remainder of the news.
Shortly thereafter, my oldest son returned home and I told him of our adventure and our overnight gerbil guest. I lead him into the garage to introduce him to the lost pet and told him the palm-sized ball of fur was friendly.
“Mother,” said my son incredulously, “that is NOT a gerbil . . . it’s a MOLE RAT!”
“What’s a mole rat?”
He went on to explain they are wild creatures and sometimes drown in the pool where he worked as a lifeguard. He also told me that he was so “friendly” because he could hardly see. That made sense.
The short version of the rest-of-the-story is that we decided to turn our “gerbil” back out into the wild of an undeveloped part of town not too far from our house. However, I found out later that my husband felt bad turning the nearly sightless critter out in an environment where he would make a nice snack for a hungry hawk or raven. He ended up letting the grey tuft of fur go in our backyard. To this day I’m pretty sure our dogs remain oblivious.
The Human
You know, non-believers are a lot like mole rats. No, I don’t mean that as an insult, just an observation. Hear me out. Unbelievers do not acknowledge the presence of God in their lives even though He is very present. Stay with me . . .
“For it is this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers,” (1Timothy 4:10 NASB, italic mine).
Unbelievers, like the mole rat don’t see so well when it comes to the things of God. I’m not trying to be offensive, but that night in our bedroom the little critter didn’t clearly SEE who provided a safe place for him to stay when he wandered into our room. However, he did EXPERIENCE a place safe from our dogs that also provided newspaper to nestle in and water to drink. That’s pretty close to how God’s works in the life of those who don’t recognize Him . . . “He is the “Savior of ALL men.”
James 1:17 says that, “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.” James’ greeting tells us he is addressing the twelve tribes who have been dispersed, but I think this statement can be considered in a broader sense and include any gift bestowed on ANY person, Christian or otherwise. (Matthew 5:44-45 supports that God bestows benefits on all people, not just Christians: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father, who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”)
God’s presence permeates even the most hardened unbelievers. He rains grace on them as an attempt to woo them to Him because He loves them. Any good and perfect gift they receive that gets attributed to their efforts or to good karma, is actually from God. They just don’t realize that. Like the mole rat with limited vision to see that it was a two-legged human who gave him a good gift of overnight sanctuary, unbelievers don’t recognize the One who provides them with good gifts.
Do you have any two-legged “mole rats” in your life? Loved ones or dear friends who do not recognize the presence of God in their lives? There will come a day when unbelievers will find themselves in a place separated from the presence of God. There will be no Rubbermaid containers to provide them safety and comfort. There will no grace raining on them because it’ll be too late to experience “every good and perfect gift” from God.
“…dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,” (2 Thes 1:8-9 NASB).
The Vision
I don’t know about you, but that lesson took my breath away. The connection between the how wonderful the presence of God is veiled from unbeliever’s vision, and how awful being away from that presence will be, got my attention. It should capture the attention of all of us with non-believers in our lives. Paying the penalty of “eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord” sounds utterly horrible! There will be no Force providing the safety and comfort of a Rubbermaid container. No one will provide refuge from outside dangers like when my husband saved the mole rat from hungry birds of prey. There will be NO grace raining down from heaven to cover the sloppy moments of life. There will be no mercy . . . people will GET what they deserve. There will be no break from physical suffering. There will incredible loneliness because God’s presence will be gone. It will be too late for His love to save.
That image haunts me. I cannot image a life where God is neither directly nor indirectly involved. I cannot imagine anyone, especially those I love, living like that. An urgency has awakened in me. Yes, it can be hard to talk to stubborn loved ones about Jesus and salvation, but our prayers must become more fervent. We must do what we can to help them see. The day after being pierced by thought of eternal destruction, God showed me a verse that I have started praying over loved ones who, so far, reject Jesus: “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ,” (2 Thes 3:5).
What about you? Consider your loved ones whose limited vision prevents from them seeing the Author of Salvation . . . the Giver of every good and perfect gift. If you are like me and void of the gift of evangelism, I challenge you to join me. Take one step at a time. Pray. If the Spirit moves you, share with your loved one that you are praying for them. If God can move mountains and save lives, He can certainly help when those we care about need a spiritual prescription to correct worldly vision. Consider those you love and go for it . . . I am.
©2013 Shona Neff