Ugly, Black, Fuzzy Thing

My daughter Vanessa just about had a heart attack when she looked out the back window at our yellow tabby on the patio.

"Momma! Lincoln's playing with a big tarantula!!" she hollered as she ran out the door to rescue him.

Vanessa was nine or ten years old at the time. The cat nonchalantly batted the tarantula around like a toy, and the big spider kept rearing up at him, trying to be as ferocious as possible. Lincoln wasn't scared at all, but Vanessa couldn't stand it. She ran to Lincoln and jerked him up off the ground, holding him up high as she looked around for the tarantula. I can just see Vanessa looking this way and that, and Lincoln looking down wondering what she was looking at.

For some reason she could not find the tarantula anywhere. She finally turned to look at Lincoln's face , and to her horror, there in his mouth just inches from her own face was the tarantula. The cat must have grabbed him as soon as Vanessa ran up to him, thinking she was after his toy.

With no further thought of rescue, Vanessa shot-put the cat and the tarantula across the back yard. I still laugh every time I picture that in my mind.

Too many times in life, though, people get a hold of things or allow themselves to get into situations that are harmful. It can be very easy to lose sight of the value of these people when all we see are the very things or situations that are hurting them. They may not even recognize the danger to themselves and resent any attempts of rescue. Sometimes the rescuer gets hurt in the process, too, and it becomes easier to discard those painful people from our lives. Other times we completely avoid reaching out to people because we cannot see past the snares that have entrapped them.

On the other hand, harmful things in our own lives can cause us to isolate ourselves from others, maybe to avoid admitting we have a problem and facing it or the shame of anyone finding out something's getting the best of us. Many of these problems began by making wrong choices, but all are symptoms of a fatal heart condition each of us are born with... a heart condition that can only be cured by the Great Physician.

God sees beyond that ugly, black, fuzzy thing called sin we all have been hanging onto at some time or other in our lives, and He loves us anyway. He is not about to throw us away. That choice is ours.