Mouse Problems…….How God used a mouse to speak to me
One morning I was doing my usual in the bathroom, getting ready for work. All of a sudden, I saw a mouse crawling out of my closet. Eeek!!!!!! I screamed and ran all the way down the stairs to the kitchen. I looked back and, could see the mouse crawling down the stairs too. Eeek!!!! Eeek!!!!! I screamed again and jumped on top of a stool at the table. Thinking to myself…..there is a freaking mouse in my HOUSE!!!!!!!
I sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what I was going to do. There was no way that I was going to be roommates with a mouse. I then managed to pull myself together enough to finish getting dressed for work and left quickly! Not knowing where the mouse had gone, I was horrified as every little odd movement or sound caused me to be startled. I was shook and creeped out because of this little mouse. I had mouse problems!
That whole day at work, I was disheveled. In between meetings, appointments and assisting students, I was researching and contacting exterminators. I must have called 20 different exterminators and NONE had availability that day. I thought, “What am I going to do?” I needed this mouse problem solved NOW! By the end of the day, I had no other choice but to secure an exterminator for the following morning. So next on my agenda was figuring out where I was going to spend the night. I thought about a hotel, then the costs associated with it deterred me. I thought about staying at a friend’s house, then I decided I really didn’t want to do that either. So, very hesitantly, I decided to return home to the mouse.
On the drive home, I thought about my day and how it had been completely wrecked because of a mouse. I knew that I needed to get a hold of myself and calm down. I mean really, it was just a little mouse. I pulled up to my house and sat there for about 30 mins. Then reluctantly opened the garage, as if the mouse would be there to greet me. I then sat in the garage for another 30 mins. Trying to muster up enough courage to face the mouse head on inside my house. This led to another hour of my day destroyed because of a little furry creature called a mouse. Finally, to my relief, my son came and attempted to find the mouse. He searched and searched in every room, under every bed and couch, and in every closet and cabinet. But there was NO mouse. Two hours later…..I forced myself back into my house and began my nightly routine. I knew that I could NO LONGER let a little mouse control me or my day or consume any more of my time. I had to pull it together and get things back on track, immediately! And that’s what I did! The mouse was never seen again.
I couldn’t help but to look at my experience with this mouse from a spiritual standpoint. Was this a test? And if so, did I pass? How many times have we encountered little things in our life, equivalent to a mouse, and it completely wrecked us? Distracted us from our routine? Destroyed our peace? Threw us off course? Interrupted our time with Jesus? Caused us our faith? Stressed us out and caused us to breach our character? Basically, wreaked havoc in our lives. Perhaps it was a test for us then? Sometimes we get so worked about the smallest things in life. Even the little foxes, spoil the vine! We allow these forces of the enemy (even the little ones) to come in and still, kill, destroy, and distract us. We lose focus and our trust in God.
Know that God uses things as small as a mouse to get our attention. Sometimes he uses the small issues to get us to compare them to the large ones…..still our trust in Him should be the same. I want to encourage you to protect your peace and trust God! Know that if you keep Him as the center of your focus, everything else will be worked out. God wants us to carry our burdens to Him and leave them there and trust that He will supply our needs….
