A Mouse Speaks

In 1973 we bought our six acres virgin-forested dream property and because we couldn’t afford to build a house we moved a modular home onto the property .

Shortly after we moved there, I befriended a girl at Eaton’s where I worked and one day she asked if I would be willing to keep her five month old baby for the week-end. I was happy to keep her sweet contented baby but I found he had a funny little habit. He was teething and his way of dealing with the pain or discomfort was to pinch a little piece of your skin between two of his sharp baby nails and twist. It could be quite painful !!

I put him down the first night and he went right off to sleep .
That night I dreamed that I was holding him and he was doing his pinching thing on my little finger. Because I had found a reason for the pain I did not immediately awaken from it , but when the pain persisted I came out of my dream and opened my eyes……
I found myself looking into the eyes of a little field mouse that had a piece of my little finger between his teeth! I had my hand beside my face and the little mouse was sitting on my pillow just a few inches from my nose !

Well… you don’t have to ask !!
I let out an appropriate screech .. frightening the little mouse and jarring Vic out of his sleep !!
He refused to believe that a mouse had been biting my little finger until I showed him the teeth marks and then screeched again when I saw the mouse sitting on top of our closet door.

We thought our modular home was well built… and so it was – for a modular home- but there were little cracks that we could not even see that must have looked like open doors to the cute little field mice that were in abundance in the forest we had claimed as ‘home’.
It took us many months to find and close off every tiny crack, until finally they could no longer find a way in !!

I tell this story …because I think my little mouse preaches a good object lesson!!

We live our lives in what we think are beautifully comfortable ‘modular homes’ but we have an enemy seeking entrance … He can find cracks in our life that we are not even aware off. The enemy is lurking hoping to find some way to exercise his evil intentions in our hearts. Some things may seem sooo small .. hardly significant but the crack left open will allow the enemy’s influence in.
My story gives a very literal meaning to “Give him your little finger and he will take your whole hand!”
And so he will.
If we are honest with ourselves, we know that Satan is not the real enemy , is he ! The real enemy is our own fleshly inclinations and desires, our character flaws and weaknesses. Satan just takes advantage of our 'cracks' that he can use for his own evil desires against us !
We allow a little selfish reaction here…. an unloving act here… an indulgence there… a fleshly desire … an angry word… doubt, fear, sin… Oh… so many cracks we have never closed off !!

The Holy Spirit will point out the little cracks in our life that need to be dwelt with … but are we sensitive to His gentle nudging? Do we hear His convicting voice in our hearts?

“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” (Ps. 119:9)