Tale about fearful cat brings lesson in God’s love

Last December, my wife and I visited the animal shelter in Pasco to see if there was a cat we could adopt.

My wife fell in love with a three-month-old kitty that had been found on the streets and seemed quite lovable and gentle. We brought him home.

Our hopes of bonding with this cat were quickly dashed.

When we entered our house, his calm demeanor vaporized. He stiffened in terror, panicked, bolted from our arms, and streaked to the nearest hiding spot. He would not let us approach him.

We understood his need for time to adjust, but after a few days of living with a cat that wanted nothing to do with us, we wondered if we had made a big mistake.

Before giving up, we decided that as a creature of God, this little one had a loving and lovable nature to honor and express. It appeared to be hidden underneath a deep layer of fear, but we committed ourselves to a prayer of love for this kitty that intended to dissolve that fear and allow more of his loving nature to appear.

In our prayers, we talked about how the presence of love was a reality this cat could experience.

“God is love,” the Bible tells us (I John 4:8). God is everywhere. The love of God included this cat and was present to bring him comfort.

God’s love is a penetrating force for positive change that could reach into the inner depths of this precious one’s thought, remove his fears, neutralize frightful images from his memory of the past, and inspire him to see that he lived in a place that was safe to roam in the open and be with people who cared for him.

The more we prayed, the calmer we felt about our future with this kitty. We knew he had spiritual sense to warm up to the care that was being showered over him.

We named him Snickers, and patiently waited for divine love to work its reformative wonders on his personality.

The positive changes were rapid. In a short time, Snickers came out of hiding. He let us hold him and was eager to play with toys.

One day, to my utter delight, he jumped up on my work desk while I was talking on the phone. He walked all over my computer keyboard, rolled my pens onto the floor, pranced around the desktop, then walked straight up to my face and affectionately touched his nose to my nose.

I knew that the Snickers of God’s creating, a creature that was lovable and loving, had made a full-blown appearance in our home. He showed the same affection toward my wife.

The Bible states, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7, NKJV). I find that this rule applies to pets as well as people.

The love of God is present to take away fear, inspire trust, and create an environment that feels safe for one and all.

Snickers is an active member of our family today, fully engaged with the rest of us, and a delight to have around.

This story was originally published July 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.