My little Tuxedo kitty, Bubu, loves to be outside in our garden! Although he is not allowed to go outside alone, and must be supervised. Otherwise he is up and over the fence in a heartbeat, and with the wild animals that roam our neighborhood, that’s not a chance I’m willing to take.
That does not keep him from begging me to go outside on a regular basis. Every time I’m in the kitchen, I can count on him meowing incessantly, followed with paws batting on the door, head bobs, and anything else he thinks may get my attention, including running ahead of me down the hallway if he thinks I may be about to get my shoes on!
Most times, he gets his way. We go outside long enough for him to make his garden “rounds”, roll in the dirt between plants, and have a good time. Sometimes though, he does not always get his way. This could be because I’m not dressed (still in my PJ’s), the weather is not right (snow/rain/high wind), I’m too busy, or am leaving out another door, etc.
Every now and then, it happens for an unexpected reason, like when our Robins lay eggs that hatch, and all of the sudden we have baby robins in the garden! We currently don’t have trees or bushes high enough for them to nest within, so they nest on the ground. Because the babies can’t fly, letting Bubu out into the garden while they are on the ground is not a good thing. It does nothing but excite him, and of course it stresses the baby birds out so badly that they play dead because they don’t know what else to do. And then we, too, get excited, having to chase Bubu around to keep him from using them as his new batting toy.
But I have noticed that trying to reason with Bubu by telling him that the Robins have had babies and he can’t go outside again until they learn to fly, well, simply doesn’t fly! Try as he might, he just cannot understand the reasons why I will not allow him outside.
I have often thought that it must be similar between me and God, except in this case I am the Bubu! The bible says in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Each time I question why, I think about Bubu. I may beg God to please allow this thing, whatever it may be, and never fully understand why I feel He is telling me no. But what I can do is trust. I can trust that the Lord, who knows all my days before I am even born (Psalms 139:16), knows too what is best for that particular circumstance. I can also be secure in knowing that He is a good Father, who desires to give me good things (Luke 11:9-13). And I can rest in the fact that whatever it is I perceive He is withholding, I know there is a specific purpose behind it, and that He is causing all things to work together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
Alabastersky 