The Parable of the Lost... Kitty?

 Shalom

A couple weeks ago, I was hanging out with a good friend of mine, playing chinese checkers, when I realized Shalom had disappeared.  My apartment is small enough that I quickly determined that she wasn't in my apartment.  I felt cold all over when I realized the only way out of my apartment was my bedroom window that was left slightly open, and that the only way off the narrow windowsill right outside was straight down three floors to the cement stairs below.  With a sinking heart, I got up the courage to look down, fully expecting to see her crumpled body below.  I was both relieved and worried when I saw nothing.  It was after 10pm, so I got my headlamp and searched for her until midnight, calling her name and straining my eyes to see into the shadows of the vacant lot next door.

where Shalom fell

my 3rd floor window barely visible at top

I gave up when I realized it was too dark for me to see anything well.  The next morning I woke at 5am and searched again in the early morning light.  I looked in the most absurd places, lifting lids to empty containers and searching in tiny crevices.  I was just about to give up when I saw a tiny patch of grey behind a flowerpot.  Shalom had spent the whole night huddled behind the flowerpot, completely hidden from sight.  As I scooped her up in my arms, I was overcome with emotion and wept for joy at finding my dear kitty who I thought was lost.

Shalom after the vet

As I carried Shalom back upstairs, I thought about the passage in Luke 15 I had just read the night before.  I was desperate to find my cat, looking everywhere and doing whatever it took to find her.  When I finally found her, I felt incredible joy.  It gave me a deeper understanding of how persistent Jesus is in looking for His lost sheep, and what inexplicable joy He feels and shares with all of Heaven when He finds just one.  It gave me a lot of hope for my friend, who was still sleeping upstairs, who is definitely a lost sheep.  She's been wandering around in the dark, choosing paths that are only taking her father away from her Shepherd, but how much more is our Father beating the bushes, looking for her and calling her name!  What a powerful illustration of how our Father loves us and what He's willing to do to find us.

 

 P.S. I took Shalom straight to the vet and she just had a small fracture in one of her front paws.  Miraculous!

Luke 15

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.