Wrai's Return
He’s back. And he’s gone again. The chronicles of Wrai the cat continue.
After we propped open the cat window and placed his foot on the outside chest, Wrai found his way back to the great outdoors. Up and over the back fence, he was gone. We wondered if we would ever see him again. After all, he’s a feral cat. Maybe he decided to try and make his way back to Pensacola. Or maybe he found another source of food. Or maybe, God forbid, he met his demise on the road running beside our condo.
Several days passed with no Wrai sightings. I’ll be honest; I missed the little guy. Sherri and I both grew quite attached to our reluctant resident. And we grew more concerned about him with each passing day.
Last Saturday brought an all-day rain. It continued into the evening, and once again, as she has done nightly, my precious wife propped open the cat window and placed a bowl of pate on the inside ledge. At 6 O’clock Sunday morning, Sherri made her way downstairs and into the kitchen to make her morning coffee, and THERE WAS WRAI!
He scampered into his hiding place in my study, where he stayed the rest of the day. We were gone the better part of the day, but after meeting with our spiritual growth group Sunday evening, we came home, propped open Wrai’s cat window, and turned on a football game.
“Dinner time,” called Sherri, as she set his bowl of pate on the outside chest. Within a minute, Wrai appeared, ate a few treats Sherri had placed on his cat tower, and then headed outside, where he finished his dinner and, once again, disappeared into the night.
I’m feeling a lot better about the little guy.
During his absence, I reflected on Wrai, and as always, the Lord whispered to my spirit what I believe is a great truth about how He sees our suspicious and sometimes outright rejection of His loving care for us.
Part of me wanted to be angry at Wrai for throwing away the safety of our condo for a much more dangerous existence in the wild. But I knew he just didn’t fully understand that he was truly safe and cared for by us. And so, rather than being mad at our little lost grey cat, I grieved for him. And yes, I prayed for him.
God’s loving care is lavished on each of us, and yet, we often refuse to acknowledge or accept God’s grace. We do this because, like Wrai, we just don’t understand. We haven’t learned to trust. And I can assure you that God is never angry at our wayward ignorance. He grieves over us, and He continues to wait, like that father of the prodigal who, much like Wrai, placed his independence above the safety and security of his home.
The longer I serve Him, the more I am convinced that God’s love is beyond our ability to comprehend. We cannot emphasize this truth about our Lord too much. And some of you may have to ponder this, but we don’t balance it out with His Holiness, especially when we so quickly move from God’s holiness to God’s wrath.
For God so loved the world . . .
In Christ,
Dan
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