Chasing Squirrels…

When I was a child, I had ridiculous amounts of energy.

According to my Mother (a very reliable source), I would be bouncing off the walls from sun-up until sun-down, always looking for something new and exciting to do or see. Consequently, my poor mother and father were always looking for ways to drain my unlimited supply of energy.

I remember my mother would have me run laps around the house, swing on the swing-set, skip rope, and jump on the trampoline for hours on end. Still, in spite of all the excitement, bed time would arrive with me hyper as could be.

However, there was one activity that would tire me out more than all of the others….

Chasing squirrels.

Yes, you read that correctly….

Near our old house there was a park full of giant oak trees. The oak trees created the perfect habitat for my furry squirrel friends and also created the perfect place for me to expend large amounts of energy. I would run around for what seemed like hours, chasing the little buggers around the park. Right when it seemed I might get even close to grabbing a fluffy tail, they would dart up a tree, escaping into their leafy abode. I never caught one, but for some reason I kept chasing and chasing and chasing until I was so tuckered out that I had to plop on the ground and catch my breath. It was free entertainment for my parents as well as a sure fire way to get me to fall asleep in the evenings when bed time came around. An endless pursuit, I always left the park exhausted and even a little disappointed that I was outwitted once again.

Have you been chasing any squirrels lately?

I am not talking about the little furry guys in the park anymore, I talking about something a little bit more familiar.

How often to we find ourselves chasing things throughout our day that we can’t catch? Searching for success, we strive and chase after things that can never fulfill us until we are so tired out and discouraged that all we can do is collapse and ask ourselves why we even try in the first place.

Lately I have found myself questioning my definition of success. It is very easy for me to define myself by my successes. My education, experience, job, overall performance: I let all of these things define who I am as a person. The endless pursuit of perfection leaves me exhausted. When I define myself by what I am or am not accomplishing, I quickly realize that I will never meet my own expectations. I am never enough. Never skinny enough, never smart enough, never a good enough wife, never making enough money…. All of these things seem to turn my heart to stone and weigh me down to the point where I wonder why I even try. It is so hard to remember that what I do does not define me.

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Grace.

We don’t receive a lot of grace from the world around us.

Life is demanding. School, work, church, family, marriage…every part of our lives demands something from us. It can get to the point where we are pulled in so many different directions that it feels as though we could burst at the seams.

But in Christ, there is grace.

Ephesians 2:2-4 “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.“

A weight is lifted off my shoulders when I consider that from the beginning, God knew I would never be good enough. I would never be able to make my own way, to save myself, to be…good.

Yet, He loved me anyway.

What greater thing in this world could there be than to be loved unconditionally by the Creator of the stars.

What greater thing could I ever know than the love of Savior who laid down His life, who left His throne, for me.

Philippians 3:8-9 “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them [our best efforts] rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” 

Before Paul’s God encounter on the road to Damascus, he thought he had it going on. He was the best of the best. Education, notariety, circumcision, the proper lineage: he had it all. However, his life-changing God encounter and following ministry caused him to realize the only worthwhile pursuit in life is to know the heart of God.

Philippians 3:3-10 “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…”

If we pursue Christ, purpose will follow.

When we follow the path that God has for us, it is then that we will find the favor we failed to find on our own.

You know, I may have never caught a squirrel as a child.. but that isn’t the end of my story.

While in college one day, I was walking along, minding my own business on my way to class. Suddenly, in the ivy next to me, I heard a rustle. Up from among the ivy popped a fluffy squirrel tail…

I looked left.

I looked right.

No one was around…

Very quietly, I reached down slooooowly until my hand was only centimeters away from the squirrel tail.

It still didn’t see me.

After a moments hesitation, I grabbed the tail and pulled the squirrel right up into the air!! It was just as stunned as me. We both let out a squeal as I let go and jumped back! We both froze..stared for a moment…then it darted away to safety in a nearby tree.

Needless to say, it was a grand moment of victory in my life.

The only sad part was, no one else was around to see it. A shame really.

But there is a lesson to be learned.

Perhaps our greatest moments of accomplishment will come when we least expect them. Perhaps our victories will surprise us as we simply follow the path God has laid out for us.

Instead of chasing squirrels, maybe we need to let God lead us to them.

Well… you know what I mean. 😉