Psalm 28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude.
Psalm 107:6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;He rescued them from their distress.
2 Corinthians 1:10 He has rescued us from a terrible death, and he will continue to rescue us. Yes, he is the one on whom we have set our hope, and he will rescue us again.
Part of the fun of Hodge Critter Lodge is the continual animal rescues that occur. We get calls on a regular basis asking if we can take in another critter. Occasionally, we refer the animal in need of rescue to some of the other area wildlife rescue sites, but most of the time, we don’t, or rather can’t, say no. We have rescued so many different species over the past few years. We have rescued deer fawns, fox kits, baby opossums, raccoons, squirrels, flying squirrels, and even skunks. We’ve had fawns running around the house in diapers, and baby flying squirrels jumping from person to person at our kitchen table. We truly love all of God’s creatures. It can be a headache at times, and occasionally lead to heartache, but trying to nourish and provide the needs for a tiny little creature is a true joy.
Day one of the rescue is generally the hardest. The animal is from the wild, and of course, it doesn’t recognize me as the new mama, and that dropper full of formula I am trying to persuade it to drink is nothing like milk from the real mama. It will give them the nourishment and nutrition they need, but they don’t know that. They just see a crazy, kinky headed lady cooing and talking some foreign language trying to force a hard plastic dropper in their little tiny mouths. Nutrition and hydration are truly the most important part of rehabbing, but the babies must be kept warm. We always put them in a small carrier with an electric blanket and a soft towel. We try to make the baby rescue feel right at home. It usually takes a couple of days, but before long, they are taking formula from a bottle, and rather than us trying to force feed them, they begin demanding the bottle. We slowly gain their trust, and they realize that we are there to rescue them and to keep them safe from harm.
There are many biblical accounts of rescues. Not the furry critter kind of rescue, but the good Lord kind of rescue. Don’t you just love the story of Jonah? He always comes to mind when I think of being rescued. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against the city because they were wicked. Jonah detested the people of Nineveh and going there was the last thing he wanted to do. So he ran. He got on a boat headed for Tarshish which was the opposite direction of Nineveh. Jonah makes me laugh. Did he really think that he could run away and hide from God, the Creator of the universe? Whether he thought he could hide away or not, God showed up and showed him that he couldn’t run and hide. He sent a strong wind and waves, and Jonah finally admitted to the sailors that he was running away from God, and he told them to throw him into the sea to calm the waves. They threw him into the sea, and God sent a big fish to swallow him up. Jonah remained in the belly of the whale for three days. What do you suppose Jonah did next? He recognized the power and authority of God, and he prayed. The fish spat Jonah out, and God told Jonah once again to go to Nineveh. This time, Jonah went. I suppose there’s nothing like living in the belly of a great fish for three days to convince you that God means business.
Jonah traveled to Nineveh, and he preached to the people as God had commanded. To his surprise, the people believed God and repented. God saw that they had turned from their evil ways, and he relented. He didn’t bring the destruction on them which He has promised because they repented. This is where it gets even a bit more funny. Jonah did what he was supposed to do this time. He preached the word of God. the people repented and turned to God and away from their evil ways. Jonah should be happy right? Wrong. He acted like a pouting child that didn’t get his way. He despised the people of Nineveh. He wanted God to destroy them. God had said He would destroy them, but when God saw that they had turned from their evil ways, He relented. This angered Jonah, and God had to remind him that he should have concern for the more 120,000 people of Nineveh. Shouldn’t Jonah have wanted the people to be rescued by God?
God has rescued me too many times to count, and He sent His Son, Jesus, so that we can all be rescued. We have the assurance of everlasting life with the King of Kings. Our eternity is secured if we have accepted Christ as our Savior. Christ rescues us. Without Him, we are weak. We need spiritual nourishment to grow in Christ. We need Christ to keep us safe from harm. He doesn’t force feed us, but He gently guides our path. Before long, we are craving more knowledge of the Savior, and we are spending more time with Him. We may not recognize that we needed saving until we come to know the Savior. We gradually begin to trust Him, and we recline in the comfort and security of His saving grace.
What about those who don’t have that security? What about those who haven’t yet been rescued? What about those people we detest…murderers, child molesters, rapists, thieves, or those closer to home…that grumpy old man down the street, a co-worker that has different opinions, people who have angered us or caused us pain? What about those people?The same God that rescued me wants to rescue them too. The awesome thing about the love of Christ is that there is nothing we can do to make Him love us more, and there is nothing we can do to make Him love us less. He wants to rescue each and every one of us!
If we have the security and promise of eternal life with Christ, He shouldn’t have to make us go tell others like God had to tell old Jonah. We should be telling everyone we come in contact with about the saving grace of Christ. Spread the Good News! And if you haven’t yet been rescued, what are you waiting for? Just call on His name. He’s waiting.
Inspirations from the Funny Farm 