Guided thoughts no. 21

Recently we have been troubled by a little critter. I know I am giving things away with my picture, but bear with me and listen to my story, OK? (Grin)

This little guy apparently thought that our house was the be-all, end-all of potential squirrel homes. So much so that he was gnawing on it.

Seriously.
He would climb up the screen on our porch (get your little claws off there!) and use his not-so-dainty incisors to munch on the wood lattice work. Crunch, crunch, crunch....oh, here comes the dog....race to the end of the deck and jump for your life!
Next he tried one of the windows nearby.....gnawing on the outside trim, necessitating repair work and painting.

Then he (or one of his family members) discovered that the dog sometimes doesn't eat all of her food at one sitting.....so almost every time we walked out on the front porch, off would scamper a squirrel with a piece of kibble.

We tried removing the tempting food, but the squirrel battle response was to begin gnawing into the cabinet where the food was stored.

Oy vey.
We finally realized a trap was needed.
A trap was purchased, and then the strategy began. What to use for bait?
We researched and studied, and began trying different items to tempt the lil bugger into the trap, so the door would fall and we could re-locate him (or her).

We tried slices of apple. Dabs of peanut butter. Pieces of cheese, the smellier the better.
We fiddled with the release on the trap, to make it just easy enough to catch the critter, not slam shut too soon.

This got me thinking..... this is exactly what the devil tries to do with believers. Satan and his demons study us (think Screwtape Letters here) and strategize just how to catch us unawares. They are subtle or blatant, according to the Christian that they are targeting. They have some tried and true plans, but they are perfectly willing to break new ground.....their goal is to separate us from our relationship with our Lord. To make that relationship cold, or dull, or strained.

Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (II Corinthians 11:14b)

Sometimes all it takes is the devil using someone to offend us, to make us resentful or angry. Wham! We just tripped that trap and we're caught....someone said something, or did something, and we didn't respond in a Christ-like way.
How do we get out of the trap?
Well, we are better off than the squirrel -- we have a way out!
It's forgiveness.
When someone says or does something that makes us hurt or angry, quick as a wink we need to utter a silent prayer for wisdom, and for forgiveness.
Then respond to that person in a way that matches our love for Christ, and our gratitude for His being merciful to us.
Be merciful to that person..... the trap opens and we dash out!

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-15)

(And in case you are wondering, we DID finally catch our marauder, and re-located him about five miles away....now we are trying to catch his relatives.....)