I love my cats. I could tell you loads about them. About how Tabitha was a girl, but apparently he was just a late bloomer, and by the time I found out that he was a boy it was too late to change his name. About how I accidentally trained Poro to sit on command. I could whisper to you that I love Poro better (I love him different) than Tabitha and that he is my most special baby (kinda true).
But this isn't about that.
Poro is missing. He got out Monday night, and I noticed his actual absence on Tuesday. He's a shy, independent loner cat, so I figured he was just hanging out on his own Monday night. But Tuesday when I got back from dental surgery (that's another story), I couldn't find him.
I looked through the entire house. I looked in his favorite spots, on my bed, places he rarely goes, in every window, under the beds. He was gone. He's still missing. Eventually, I realized that he probably got out Monday and I didn't notice because it was dark, and he's a mostly black cat.
I've had him for about 5-6 years. He's my baby. I love that cat so much. He took my last bit of money last month because I discovered that he had worms. He completely clawed me up as I tried to get two pills down his throat. He continued to claw me up as he got a bath because he peed in the carrier on the way to the vet and it got all over him.
And that didn't change my love for him.
He's been gone almost a week and I miss him even more now than I did Tuesday when I realized he was gone. If I knew where to look, I'd be looking. I'm pretty sure he went out in the country area though...but that's not my property, and I'm not allowed back there.
I've prayed so many times for him to come home safe and sound. I've begged God to please bring my baby home, because I miss him, and even Tabitha is getting extra clingy and misses him. He's a quiet, independent loner boy, but his absence fills the house.
And then I had a thought.
Poro is my 1 in the 99. The one that I want to come back to me.
Jesus told a story of a shepherd who had one sheep who strayed. The shepherd left his 99 other sheep behind to go find and rescue his lost lamb. When he found it, he carried it home on his shoulders, rejoicing all the way home, and when he got to his friends, he told his friends to rejoice with him.
"So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!" — Luke 15:3-7 NLTAnd then I had another thought.
I'm over here praying several times a day, almost in tears, over my lost kitty. I know that God cares about my kitty, because he cares about the sparrows, and my kitty is bigger than a sparrow. I know he cares about my kitty because I care about my kitty and he cares about me.
"What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it." — Matthew 10:29 NLT
"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." — I Peter 5:7 NLTHe knows where my Poro cat is, and he cares because I care. But do you know what he cares about more? The souls of my friends and family who don't know him, who haven't been redeemed and adopted by him, who don't have the same peace that I do.
"This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth." — I Timothy 2:3-4 NLTAnd do you know how often I pray for them? It's not that I don't pray for them. I do. Usually once a day at a prayer time that my family has come together and decided is our family prayer time, despite us all living far away from each other.
But I only pray for them maybe once a day. Sometimes more if I'm thinking about them. Guys, Poro means the world to me. I adore him and I love him and I miss him and I just want to hug him again. But the humans in my life matter more.
It's not fun to realize that you're wrong. It's even less fun to admit that you're wrong. But I was wrong. It's not wrong for me to pray for Poro to come home...but I should be praying as fervently for my friends and family to "come home."
I'm not going to say that I'm now magically amazing at praying for the humans in my life to be saved. I'm not. But now I'm aware that I have a problem, and I plan to make an effort to fix it. My prayers have power...I should make use of it.
"The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." — James 5:16b
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me!