Don't Miss the Drowning Chipmunks In Your Life!

A few weeks ago, as I was sitting outside in our backyard by the pool thinking and praying, I suddenly became consciously aware of a small gasping, almost coughing sound coming from somewhere nearby. I realized I had been hearing the sound for a while now, but because I was so focused on whatever I was thinking about, I hadn't really been processing it. So I looked up. And what I saw was a chipmunk drowning in our swimming pool, desperately pedaling its legs, struggling to keep its head above water. I immediately jumped out of my chair and ran to grab the pool net from the other side of our yard to rescue the chipmunk from his (or her) watery grave! As I pushed the net underneath the chipmunk's flailing legs, it gripped on for dear life, recognizing this was its only means of escape. I gently placed it down on the lawn, where it lay shivering for a few moments until it was able to regain enough strength to move again.

This dramatic rescue, and how close I was to letting this creature die without even noticing it, caused me to reflect on how often we unknowingly overlook the opportunities that God gives us and the lessons that He's trying to teach us every day while we go around our daily lives focusing on ourselves. After all, this chipmunk was literally 10 feet away from where I was sitting, gasping for air, flailing about in the water, and I heard its cries for help for who knows how long without actually paying enough attention to realize it! How often do we similarly struggle through the valleys or climb over the mountaintops of our lives, or even just walk down the street, while completely missing the point of it all because we're so focused on our worries and our comfort and ourselves all of the time? How often is God trying to show us or teach us something that's literally right in front of us, but we fail to pay enough attention to realize it?! As Christian author Gary Thomas writes in his book The Beautiful Fight (apparently now named Holy Available),

"Sometimes, in answer to prayer, God does change our situation. He heals us, restores us, provides for us, and protects us. But just as often, instead of changing our situation, He chooses to change our perception: "You're looking at this entirely the wrong way." Have you ever offered your eyes to God? Have you ever asked Him to pour His wisdom into your perception, His perspective into each gaze? Have you ever stepped back and prayed, "God, how does this look to You?" If you do, you'll never look at others the same way again...God wants to transform my eyes from being selfish possessors and consumers to being His servants of selfless love." You'd be surprised how much of Scripture deals with how we use (or misuse) our eyes! This comes into play in what we learn from the experiences we go through in our lives as well as in how we see and love others like God does!

Not long after the chipmunk airlift and reading this passage, I was walking downtown on my way to deliver a card to somebody when I came across a man asking for money on the sidewalk. Typically in such a situation, I would give the man some change, possibly a booklet explaining the Gospel, and then be on my way. This time, I had the desire (see last blog post) to see and treat this man as Jesus would (Show me the Bible passage where Jesus gives money to a beggar and then keeps walking to wherever He was going). I told him I didn't have any money on me, but I would come back with some. On my way back, I stopped and sat down with the man and asked him his story. He shared a bit of his experiences, how he'd ended up in Peterborough, etc. Then I shared a bit of my story with him, about how my relationship with God through Jesus Christ is what brings me hope every day, and he shared some of his past experiences in the Church and his understanding of the Gospel with me. It was probably only a 10 minute conversation all in all, but it meant something. We exchanged names and stories, not just a few quarters, and I was able to really show the love of God to this man as well as share the love of God with this man, although I'm sure I could have done more still.

This man could have been just another "dead chipmunk" that I passed by or overlooked in my life while I carried on focusing on my own selfish interests. But God opened my eyes on this particular occasion and gave me the grace to stop and notice what (or who) He had perfectly orchestrated to be in my path that day. As I preached at Edmison Heights Baptist Church last Sunday, there is no Plan B with God. Everything that happens in our lives is God's Plan A. There are no coincidences. There are no accidents. There is only God. Will we notice what He wants us to notice? Will we reach out to those He has placed in our paths? Let's stop missing the drowning chipmunks in our lives!

I have more to share, but I'm realizing it may be better broken into two blog posts than one.

God bless you all!

-Wes

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