November 04th, 2017

So, here’s a story: Recently my girlfriend, Jessica, just moved into a new apartment with a friend of hers. They gathered together, they found the apartment; they packed their belongings and began to move. Obliviously I helped the ladies move from their previous dwelling into the new apartment. The last day of moving into the new apartment, my girlfriend and I moved her tiny kitten to the new place. We packed all of the cat’s toys and her other belongings and we placed the cat into a carrier and we got into the car.
 
As we drove from her mom’s place, where the cat had previously been living, to the new apartment, Jessica sat in the passenger seat with the carrier resting on her lap. Just as usual, the cat inside the box was anything but restful while we were traveling from place to place. The cat seemed to be panicking and trying to escape the carrier, unsure what was going around it. As we headed down the road, anyone could see that the cat was scared and unhappy about its current situation.
 
“It’s ok, Itty Bitty Kitty. Mommy loves you.” Jessica reassured the cat, trying to calm the animal in the carrier. This was to no avail. “Mommy will protect you and take care of you.” She continued to attempt to calm her pet.
 
While I’m driving and hearing these lovely words from an animal owner to a loved family pet, I began to think of how this was often a perfect metaphor for our walk with Jesus.
 
Let’s break it down:
 
In the situation of the car ride with the cat, there are numerous parallels to our spiritual lives as believers. First off, Itty Bitty Kitty as it is often referred to, even though it has another name entirely, was living in a place that had quickly become its home where it was comfortable. In a single moment, Itty Bitty was pulled from that home and placed in a small box for transport. This carrier has never been a comfort place for the feline, not because the cat is too big for the box, but due to the fact that cat did not like the enclosed area.
 
Secondly, Itty Bitty was put in a car and transferred to a new place. One could imagine that this is very confusing and frightening for the cat because it doesn’t know where it is going or what it is doing within the carrier that it despises so much. Not to mention that anyone could imagine that the cat realizes that it is also moving, yet it does not know where it is or where it is going. If a cat is capable of deep thoughts of introspection, one would that Itty Bitty Kitty’s thought would actually mirror that of a person being blind folded and napped.
 
This whole time the cat is upset and clawing as the carrier and sticking its paws and claws out of the carrier, hoping for escape, still uncertain of the purpose for this moment. While the cat is clearly not taking this transition well, the owner of the cat, in this case, Jessica, understands the cat’s fear, but also know that the final outcome with be better for the feline in the end. Just because the kitten is put through this difficult situation, that does not mean that the owner does not love and care for the cat. In fact, in many cases the opposite is true.
 
How does this relate to our spiritual walk?
 
We are the cat. Too often we are removed from our comfort zone, either by circumstance or by God speaking to our hearts, and we are placed in the epitome of uncomforting thoughts and confusion. Truthfully when we are faced with these challenges, we do not see them as challenges that allow us to grow, but we see them as a cruel game. In those times we struggle to understand what caused this change in our lives. This may mean that we look internally and discover our actions that may have caused this, but more often than not, we blame our circumstances on other people, or this unconceivable notion of “bad luck” or we blame God.
 
Due to our dislike for these situations that we may find ourselves in, we act out and we often unleash. This reaction is due to the mind trying to understand the circumstance as well as the cause and yet, finding nothing.
 
While we struggle with our uncomfortable surroundings, God can be found with us saying, “It’s okay. I’m with you. I love you. I will protect you. I will guide you.”
 
The Bible reminds us that God often encourages His children with words like “Don’t be afraid.” The average reader can also find parables of Jesus informing the disciples that storms will enter into our lives, and in order to navigate through them, we need God to guide us and protect us. Yet, much like Itty Bitty Kitty, we are unable to see passed the circumstance, the carrier, to see the bigger purpose in it.
 
Just like the cat’s owner, God knows that this difficult situation is only temporary and what is coming in the near future is better for us and it will be better to us, but first, we need to grow through the difficult times.
 
We need to trust God through the difficult times. We need to begin to see the difficult times as a challenge for God to strengthen us and guide us to better versions of ourselves. God has a great plan for us; a plan that will benefit us and, more importantly, glorify Him. All we have to do is submit to the process that God has perfectly developed to make us stronger and better. 

I pray that God will give us the grace to do that.