Wild at Heart
Wrai, our little grey feral cat, is spending more and more time indoors as the temperatures cool. He is at wary and wild as ever. Recently he started hissing at us when we put his bowl of food out. And he scratched me one day, drawing blood!
I took his food away for about thirty minutes. As I returned to put it back out, I pointed my finger at him and said, “No hissing. No clawing.”
I wish I could say that cured Wrai. It didn’t. But we continue to wait until he stops hissing to feed him.
I did a little research, and it appears Wrai has what is known as food aggression. It’s common in feral cats who have always lived in the wild, scrounging for food. Common or not, he’s going to have to stop it. What’s that old saying: never bite the hand that feeds you?
As usual, the Lord is teaching Dan a lesson through Wrai. The Lord has provided so many good things for us over the years, and we are happier than ever before with the life we have. But if the Lord had allowed me to have my way, do my thing, and carry out my plans, I can tell you things would not be near as good.
Don’t despise the Lord’s discipline, the author of Hebrews tells us. His discipline is the sign that He loves and accepts us as His children. And it is God’s discipline that brings a harvest of righteousness in our lives.
Like Wrai, I had to learn this truth the hard way. I’ll never forget one of my mentors who once said to me, “Dan, you are going with God. You can go the easy way, or you can go the hard way, but you are going with God.” His words were prophetic. But knowing what I do now, I’d do it all over again.
Will Wrai ever stop hissing? Will he refrain from lashing out at his providers with his lethal feline claws? I don’t know. Only time will tell.
The same is true of your life. And my prayer for you is that the easy way or the hard way, you will go with God.
In Christ,
Dan
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