My wife and I were about to go to sleep Saturday night; it had been an exhausting day. No sooner had I laid my head on the pillow, than I heard the tiny, mournful "mew" of a little kitten. We knew some feral cats that we have been feeding to keep away varmints had brought a little kitten up the week before. But that kitten was in a different place, and so I definitely should not be able to hear it outside the bedroom window.
Not able to allow anything to suffer, I grabbed my trusty Mag Lite and headed out the front door. I looked on the front porch first. Little sounds carry at night, so it was worth looking there before venturing into the yard. No kitten.
I headed down the steps, looking carefully at the bushes in front of the house. Still, no kitten, but I could hear the little thing.
I decided to look by the side of the house near the bedroom window. In the trench created by years of rainfall, was a little black kitten, eyes sealed shut from mucus, wandering around, crying out desperately for its mother. But there was no mother cat.
I picked up the little one, and brought her inside and showed my find to my wife. We called my sister-in-law, who had a better idea of what to do than we, and she came over with kitten formula and some other necessities.
We now have a new little kitten, who, should she survive, will have a name (what I don't know, my wife won't tell me). We have cleaned her up, taking care of the drainage everyday so that she can see, and feeding her formula at regular intervals.
Our other cat thinks she is rat apparently, as she only growls. But she will accept her new sister once she understands that the tiny thing is another cat.
Sunday morning in my Sunday School class, the idea hit me - that kitten's story is a lot like salvation.
You see, I was once a lost, little thing (as far as the world and the grand scheme of things goes), blinded by my sin. I didn't know where to go, so I just cried out. Just like the little kitten didn't find me, I didn't find Christ - He found me. Not only did He find me, but He took me into His Home and adopted me into His Family. He cleansed me from my sin, and rescued me from the dark night and everything that could have harmed me.
It's funny how God will send little things to remind me of the BIG THING He did for me.
There are a lot of people out there, who like the little kitten, are wandering out in the dark of the night, crying out for help, but no help comes. All they know is that they need help. God uses you and I to shine the Light of the Gospel to find them.
Just as I could not stand to hear the cries of that kitten, and could not allow it to suffer, God is not willing that any should perish in Hell - He wants all to be saved.
Swampfox
