It was in the mundane yesterday that I saw God. And it came through my interaction with a 13-year-old cat.
Every time my family and I go out of town for a period of time, it is quite traumatic for my old cat. He mopes around the house when we are gone, eating little, sleeping often, and hiding from the person who comes to interact with him. To Mittens, being with a stranger is not the same as being with us. He enters complete feline depression.
When we arrive home, it is quite the opposite story. He meows incessantly until we pick him up. Once he is in our arms, he purrs non-stop. If we put him down, he starts meowing again. We try to ignore him when we're busy, but he is persistent. He craves our attention.
This was the case when we arrived home from Minnesota this weekend. As I held the purring mass in my arms, God spoke to me. I realized how despicable it is that a four-legged feline expresses a deeper longing to be in my presence than I express to be in the Presence of God. Do I hunger so intensely to be with God that I am completely dissatisfied if I miss out on that time? And when I spend thirty minutes or even an hour in His presence, do I walk away satisfied that I got my "God fix" for the morning, or does it make me thirst all the more to continuously commune with Him, and keep me in an attitude of prayer and thanksgiving and listening throughout the day?
As I was holding my cat in my lap, I looked up on my bedroom wall, and God spoke to me through His Word. Years ago, I placed a dry erase board on my wall on which I wrote a Scripture passage. I am so accustomed to seeing it hang there, I don't even notice it anymore. But yesterday I saw it afresh once again. On it is printed Psalm 84:1-2: "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."
Oh Lord Almighty, let me not be content until I can sing in one accord with the Psalmist that "my soul yearns, even faints" for your courts. Teach me what it means to have "my heart and my flesh," crying out to You. In the mundane, speak to me. I have everything to learn from You; You have everything to teach to me. Thank you that in the mundane, we can see God. Our vision of You is truly one of beauty.
4 comments:
First off, that's awesome that something like your cat taught you a deep truth about God. I LOVE IT! And it's so true. One thing I prayed in one of the first CARBS prayer meetings i went to is that we would do everything in our power to get there at 6:30am on Saturday. That we would long to be there in the presence of God. That we would treat the Saturday morning prayer meeting like a chance to play on St. Andrews course in Ireland with Tiger Woods or at the United Center with Michael Jordan or talk with Michael Bloomberg in his penthouse in New York. Any business man or sports fanatic would give their left arm, move the date of their wedding, use all their vacation and sick days or do whatever it took to meet those people in real life. Shouldn't our meetings with God be INFINITELY more important? Shouldn't we desire time with him in prayer every day above anything else?
You are right, you are so right. We need that mentality of David. We need to long and faint to be in the presence of the Lord. But we are too short-sighted. We are too worldly. We are too weak. So i agree with your prayer at the end. What a great post. God's Spirit moves in mysterious ways! =)
Ok, i'm starting a blog under inspiration from yours. I'm also ripping off an essay of yours to use as my blog name. hope you don't mind =). I'll let you know what it is after i have written anything of spiritual relevance.
Dear Jen, I just love to go to your page whenever I need to take some "time out" for refreshment, I click on my precious niece's Come Thirsty site! It was SO WONDERFUL to see you at Thanksgiving at Brian's. What a wonderful blessing to be able to give my dear Sis a HUG and to SEE both your Mom and Dad and You and realize what great answers to prayer we have had in the past months. I liked the picture of Mittens! I remember when she was a tiny kitten and you took her to the motel in Mpls. for Andy & Nicolle's wedding because she was too little to leave home alone! What a great comparison to our desire to be WITH our FATHER GOD! You have a beautiful ability to see great truth's in the things around you. I love your writing skills and your desire to an instrument in God's hands in any way He leads you. Love, Aunt Marlene
Andrew, I'm very excited that you're starting a blog, and I can't wait to read and interact with it! Rip off my essays all you want. :)
Thanks, Aunt Marlene. It was wonderful seeing you too!
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