Guarding My Attic AND My Heart

Squirrel intruders started last year. So bad that they burrowed into my attic with a 6” x 3” hole. I heard them scampering around having a “heyday” all season long. Grrr! I surmised the enemy was out to get me and my peace! But, eventually, no more noise plus $150 bill from my handy man to seal the hole.

Again, this year, I hear the scratching and see the shavings on the ground. I run out like a crazy lady, waving my broom stick and rodent-spray. I'm done and ready to take him out. Still, he comes back. I decide it’s time for big guns. A $70 sure-fire deal, an Advanced Ultrasonic Rodent Repelling System is on its way. Can I just insert here “I love Amazon Prime!” Next day, the system is set up and I feel empowered. But, alas, the rascal comes back and I catch him in the act of burrowing a 1” hole. I call the repelling system company, explain my torment, and I’m sent an add-on device specificaly for squirrels.. I set it up. But, my foe is still bound and determined. I accelerate my wild west woman moves, taking after him with the spray and I put a metal shower rod up the hole. That was three weeks ago. I think (I hope) he may have found a less violent home! Whew!

Now, to the point of this blog – besides being able to vent about a varmint with the tenacity we all should have in going after what we want -- the device makes high intensity sounds that my grandkids detect right away. They complain about the shrill noise they hear coming from my back yard. We adults don’t hear the noise at all. I unplug the device and their pain is gone. They leave. I plug it back in. Payton comes over and "Nana, please turn off your device. It hurts so much." I did, until he left.

I read up on the ability to hear high-pitched sounds or not, and it seems children and teenagers can hear those sounds. As we age, our ability to hear high-pitched sounds wanes – a process that naturally occurs as the cells in our ears age.

Here's my wise sage advice at the end of this long saga. Like that annoying squirrel -- so is the enemy of our souls. My grandchildren heard those pesky, annoying sounds until I unplugged the devices. Maybe my older, wiser self with the inability to hear the taunts of the enemy is because I have learned to guard my heart. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23

Our best defense against annoying intruders or circumstances that try to steal our peace is doing what we can to get on the offense instead of letting the enemy take over. Seal up and fortify the weak places, like in our attics AND in our hearts. We seal the vulnerable places and we apply prayer and God's Word to our heart. He will give us His peace that’s beyond anything we can understand. His peace will guard our hearts and minds against the anxieties that can be as persistent as that squirrel. I’m hopeful that the squirrel has moved on to greener pastures. I'm also hopeful and determined to be on guard against the enemy of my soul! "Be clear-minded and alert. Your opponent, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion (or a scratching squirrel) looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

My Safety Deposit Box is Secure

For years, my husband and I had many important documents in a safety deposit box at our bank. Ours held only documents, but my dear friend had some very precious, rare, expensive jewelry in hers. I wondered "Why have those items if they can't be worn or used?" But to both of us, we didn't want to risk our items being stolen, broken, or burned up, so we took them to the bank and entrusted it all to the protection of a safety deposit box.

The key word is ENTRUSTED. We entrust our home's protection to a security system. We entrust the care of our children to a day care or school system. Even more than a bank lock box, our home's security system or our children in someone else’s care, whatever we entrust to God, we can be assured that He is going to take care of it. We can count on it. He has a perfect track record. Other people and systems may not have a consistent track record of taking care of things for us. But whatever we entrust to God, we can be assured “It’s done and done!” A long time ago when we were young, inexperienced and green in just about every area of life, we entrusted all we had to God – and that included what concerned us – from the huge pressures to the daily details of making ends meet.

Maybe today there are worries, concerns, family, children, husband, wife, and every situation that is on our minds today that need to be entrusted to God. All of it – from the least to the greatest – needs to be entrusted to the safety deposit box of God’s love.

Worry is, in a way, like atheism. We act like spiritual orphans who don’t have a Father in Heaven Who loves us and Who can be trusted. Worry is unbelief. It’s saying we don’t believe the thousands of promises God made in His Word. The most difficult time for us to put our "stuff" in God’s safety deposit box is when we’re in pain. When we are suffering, we don’t want to trust even God. We want to pull it back and hold it to ourselves. St. Paul knew this, but he also knew that when we’re in pain, that’s when we need to trust God the most: “I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have ENTRUSTED to Him until the day of His return.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

Maybe, like me, you need to take all those concerns and worries today – let them go, give them – ENTRUST them to God’s safety deposit box. That's when we have been convinced God is alive and well and He can be TRUSTED to work ALL THINGS for our good in due season.

Living Above Reproach

I've really done some personal soul-searching in the light of the supreme court hearings of the last few weeks. I’ve thanked God, innocent or not, that no one has ever pulled something from my past and accused me of something I did. If anything good can come out of all this, perhaps it’s to awaken us to be certain we are living a “clean” life because simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time can have serious consequences. As the saga continues on with the hearings, I've reflected on the questionable “act” and the importance of living our lives above reproach.

I was reminded of the “tawdry” story of Joseph in Genesis 37:1-36 and Genesis 39 to 41:57. You must read it for yourself. It’s a story of false accusations that turned into redemption. Here is a quick overview: Joseph’s brothers sold him to a caravan of traders who in turn sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh in Egypt. Potiphar saw the Lord was with Joseph, and “that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and Potiphar left all that he had in Joseph’s charge." Wow! That is favor!

But, that’s when the plot thickens. Joseph was “handsome” and after a time, Potiphar’s wife began to "sexually harass" him as she asked him “to lie with her.” Joseph’s refusal of her advances was honorable. He reminded her of the trust that Potiphar had placed in him and described her intentions as “wickedness” and "sin". Joseph continued to resist her, but eventually, after being physically assaulted by her and his cloak stripped from him, he made the choice to flee. After his escape and arrest on false charges, Joseph seemed to have had no legal recourse.

Unfortunately, Joseph’s godliness didn’t rescue him from false accusation and imprisonment. Our godliness and good character is no guarantee that we will escape unscathed. But if we read on to the end of Joseph’s story, we see the favor of God on his life and how his redemption unfolded when he was promoted to Governor of Egypt and became the “savior” to his family and nation.

The story of Joseph is a story of hope that by God’s grace, good may eventually prevail in the situation. Joseph also provides a model for us, that even when we are falsely accused and wrongly treated, we carry on, living above approach, allowing God to make it right in the end.

I remarked to my daughter how important it is that we instruct our children and young people (and even the rest of us) to be careful who we hang out with and where we hang out; to be wise in our activities; to be above reproach in our decision making and being sure that we are in the right places at the right times. Only God and the individuals know the total truth in the Kavanaugh hearings. And, only God and you and I know about the mistakes we have made in our lives. Living our lives with the WWJD perspective: “What would Jesus do?” would most certainly help steer us in the right direction of living above reproach.

I heard this question asked: “If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" Never has it been clearer, that character should be the highest priority for being trustworthy and credible to our children, our peers, our neighbors, our constituents, but most of all….to God. He has a front row seat in our lives. Our actions DO speak louder than words. It makes Dad so proud of His kids when He sees them “doing the right thing when no one is looking."

Psalm 119:9 "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your Word."