Bird in the house!

My cat Toby is becoming a very good hunter, sometimes much to my chagrin. As I was ironing clothes today, I suddenly realized that there was a small bird flying through my living room with Toby in hot pursuit! I wondered how it could have gotten in, given that my door is closed to the outside...well, Toby had caught this little bird and brought him in, like any good cat, to his food bowl....his eating area...but in the process of coming through his new cat door, the bird had gotten free.

So now I have a bird flying around with a cat in hot pursuit. Toby caught him again, and as I tried, in vain, to shoo them both out the front door...."come on mom, don't you know if I go outside he'll fly away?"...Toby headed again toward his food bowl. Well, the little bird escaped again and again began flying frantically around the living room. I finally grabbed a small towel and tried to capture the terrified bird. Toby caught him one more time, but let him go as I tried to pick Toby up to push him out the door...and the bird ended up on the stairs in the hallway....and Toby didn't see him for a split second, so I was able to gather the bird up in the towel and carry him downstairs and outside. I prayed he would be well enough to fly away, but just in case, I lifted him to the top of the wall...and as I released him, he flew away, seemingly fine!

Toby, of course, was highly disappointed that mom had "stolen" his prize and proceeded to pace around the house, looking for the bird, to no avail.

You know, sometimes it's our "natural instinct" to grab a hold of something; we may even think we've done something really good; we take it to its proper place...we are doing what comes naturally to us, what we think is right and good. However, the time and the place for that are not right...and the Lord intervenes and takes that thing away from us, sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently...to save it and us, and to keep things from getting really messed up.

Toby is still alive, a bit disappointed, but alive...and the little bird is still alive, a bit bruised and battered, but Lord willing, he will recover. Isn't it such a picture of life and relationships sometimes...we are still alive, a bit disappointed when things don't go quite the way we wanted them to go, even when it seemed perfectly ok; and another may be a bit bruised and battered, but will recover and go on living and, Lord willing, thriving. Lord help me to see that Your interventions on my behalf are ALWAYS for my good and always for Your glory and always for the good of others in my life. Only You can teach me this through Your grace.