Rat-tled Forgiveness.

I had been fuming about the damages the rats in my house were doing, I was already thinking of a way to get rid of them and you will not believe I actually thought of using Ariel washing powder mixed with something else (I may still try it as soon as I get the other ingredient to add).  I’m kinda cautions about rat poisons because these rats lick my spoons (yes! they are that bad).  I guess you now have an idea of the wickedness that has been in my heart towards these rats.  

This morning I walked into my kitchen and as usual, they had licked the plate I left on the table (I set a trap with no poison).  I shook my head in disgust and annoyance tightening my resolve for the Ariel experiment when I heard a noise by the sink.  I walked over and looked into the bucket of water and behold, there was a rat in it trying to get out.  It had obviously been there probably all night cos its fingers were white and its face too.  Its tummy was a bit bloated which meant it had drunk enough water. 

I instantly felt like God.  I could determine its fate… die or live.  But when I looked at its eyes, I could bet I saw it pleading with me (No seriously!)  I walked away to do something else while trying to decide what to do with the rat then I stumbled on the bucket I keep beans and they had eaten into the cover and made a hole in it.  I was instantly pissed and walked back to the bucket and looked at the rat with utter disgust, accusing it of eating into my bucket.  I also remembered my bucket of wheat which they ate into last week.

When I looked into the eyes of the rat again, all my anger dissipated.  The poor thing was fighting for its life and here I was, I had the options to free it or kill it for its sins.  But I was sure I didn’t want it running around my house again.  If I let it go, it would just scurry to the next hole, if I let it go outside the house, it would find its way back.  And as much as I loved cartoons, this was reality.  At least in those Tom and Jerry episodes I had watched, when Tom is nice to Jerry, they become friends, but that rat was certainly not Jerry.  It wouldn't just go and tell all its fellow rats to leave my house because I saved its life.  Or would it?

I thought about all this and decided that I didn’t have the heart to kill it.  So, I took the bucket to the gate man(I know, very wicked)  Immediately the guy saw the rat he said ‘God don catch you’ and proceeded to kill it, I turned my face away, but saw him smash the rats head on the floor like twice.  As the lifeless body of the rat lay on the floor, a terrible feeling engulfed me.  I was a heartless woman, how could I have let him kill that rat after it pleaded with me? 

I couldn’t shake off the feeling even while on my way to work.  I felt very sad.  I felt like I had failed a huge test.  If Jesus stood over that rat like I did, what would he have done?  One thing it taught me though was Forgiveness. 

God’s mercy is amazing; this simple incident opened my heart to this truth.  I imagined myself as the rat, being in a ditch and God looking down at me.  I wondered, would he be remembering all my past faults?  Times when I have called his name in vain, taken His glory and mercy for granted etc.  Would he even be considering his options and thinking of the risk he would be taking by rescuing me?  Truly, lots of people that are in deep trouble run to God with lots of promises of what they will do for Him if He rescued them, but ones they are free, they go right back to their sins. 

Or would he look on me with Love, reach out and rescue me?   God took and still takes the highest risk on all of us.  He sent his only son to die for us even when He knew we would not appreciate it.  Can we do the same for other people who have deeply offended us?  Even when we know they would commit that same offence again and again?

Jesus command was for us to forgive 70 x 7 times.  And his life was and still is a very good example of the command he left us.  Jesus did not just say it, he lived and still lives it in and trough us every minute, every second of every day.

Think about it, we consistently disobey him, destroy His world, do evil to one another and yet He looks on us and forgives us.  When we are in danger and call to him, he does not strike us dead because of all our past unrepentant sins, he saves, forgives and releases us and then sometimes, we go right back to our filthy sin yet he keeps forgiving and embracing us.

This is hard for many to handle, forgiveness is one of the hardest things we are called to embrace as Christians, but if Jesus could do it, so can we. 

The world will be a much better place if we lived in Love and forgave one another.

So help us God.

Toodles. :)