Over the last few months I have asked God to begin to speak to me in the same way he spoke to the Old Testament saints like Moses, Samuel, Elijah, David, Isaiah and Daniel. He has begun to do just that. And he shows me things in dreams, revelation and he also uses real life experiences to speak to me in sometimes unusual ways. One recent example that he took from my life was his way of showing me how he wants the church to show love towards other people. What is unique about this example is that he used a stray cat to illustrate how he wants the church to show this love.
I love cats. I just think they are the most unique animals. I have a full bred Egyptian Mau cat that is so cool. Her name is Yanni and she is a cat that I don't let outside at anytime. She spends most of her time right next to me when I'm in the house working in my office. She sits next to me during my prayer and quiet time in the morning. She is so funny and keeps me laughing. We are good friends. But I also feed some stray cats that wander through the alley behind my house. I leave food in my backyard for them to eat. There is one stray cat that visits my backyard many times during the day. I've named her Calico because of her patchwork markings. She is not afraid of me and will walk right up to me to beg for food. I even put a flea collar on her to keep her from being irritated by the little buggers. I plan to bring her in the house one day after getting her checked out by a vet first. I won't let her in the house yet because I used to pet her with my hand but had to stop because she gave some type of virus to Yanni a few moths ago and made her sick. The virus got on my hands and petting Yanni afterwards caused her to get the virus. Yanni got over it though.
One day about two months ago one of the ugliest cats I have ever seen in my life started showing up in the backyard. This was one pathetic looking cat. He was missing hair on one side of his body and tail. He was dirty and the hair he did have was matted in places in clumps. I could tell he was starving because he was so skinny. I did not like the looks of this cat and just wanted him to go away. One day he came running into the yard and walked up to within three feet of me and just began to meow with a voice you could barely hear. His meow was just a whisper. He had lost his voice. But he kept on meowing as he begged me to feed him. The look on his face was one of utter desperation. It was as if he was saying please feed me, PLEASE feed me! But I wouldn't feed him. I didn't want to feed him. I just turned my back on him and went in the house. I didn't want anything to do with him. I didn't want to take the chance of him spreading any diseases or viruses to either of the other two cats. So in the house I went.
The next day I began wondering what happened to that cat. Over the next week and a half I started feeling very guilty about not feeding him. The Holy Spirit began speaking to me, asking me, "David, why didn't you feed that cat?" That cat's face kept coming back to my mind with him desperately begging me to feed him. I couldn't believe that the Spirit of the Lord was dealing with me about a cat in such a way. The thoughts just would not leave me. I kept seeing his face and its expression and hearing his weakened voice as he begged for food. Finally I relented and repented and told the Lord that if he comes back I would be sure to feed him. I could not take the guilt anymore so I made him that promise. So I kept an eye out for him. I wondered and hoped that he had not starved to death. About a week later he showed up in the backyard and I ran in the house got some food and fed him. I have been feeding him ever since. Looking at him now he doesn't even look like the same cat. His hair has begun to fill in and his tail has started to fill in and look normal. I even plan on getting him a flea collar. But I was really so relieved to see him again.
About a week ago I was in Morning Prayer and the Spirit of the Lord began to speak to me. He called me. He said, "David!" I answered, "Yes Lord?" He asked, "You know the way you wanted to treat that cat?" I said, "Yes Lord?" He said "It is the way my church treats people." I got very quiet. I thought about the time that Christ told Peter, "Feed my sheep." I considered how Peter must have felt. I thanked the Lord for showing me in the way he did. I was finally able to show some love in spite of the disagreeable appearance of this cat and my judgmental attitude. We should love the unlovable who are the hardest to show compassion to even though they may not meet with our self-righteous preconceived notions. Can you love the drug addict, drug pusher, thug, prostitute and homeless person? Are we stuck in the comfort of the walls of our church buildings? We should all be showing the Agape love of God. Love is the greatest of all commandments and gifts. It is an unconditional love as you already know. This cat did not meet my standards of what a cat should look and act like. We judge the same way with people. I rejected that cat for it. I learned a lot from my ignorance. What are you doing to show the love of God?
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