The Lesson I Learned From The Squirrels Who Are Eating My Garden

  Nothing is more discouraging than watching your garden grow, then finding that some backyard squirrels are destroying all that work you put into the garden. It's not like you can reason with squirrels or provide alternatives for them to enjoy. By nature, they are diggers. They dig for food. They are very destructive.

  I have invested a lot of money in the gardens, and have spent a lot of time babying my plants. Once I put them outside in their grown up pots, they disappear. Either the squirrels destroy them or tree branches fall on them. In spite of that, some have survived.

   The squirrels put the icing on the cake this morning when they got a hold of one of my ripening tomatoes. That does it. I have a BB gun that I will use on them, and am now learning the skill of shooting a gun. It works. But I have to be out there 24/7 to watch for the squirrels. That, of course, is impossible.

   Now, I have been praying about an answer for the squirrels. There are many options, but most cost money and are expensive. I don't have that kind of money right now, so, it looks like I have to just keep watch for them and get my gun out and use it when they hop over to my plants.

   I am wondering, what does God see when this is happening? He knows that the squirrels are causing terrible problems, not just for me, but for many people who garden. Is God going to give me wisdom, or an answer for this, or, does He have something else in mind?

An idea, or thought came to mind. I realized how proactive and motivated I am to get rid of the squirrels. I would check often to see if any squirrels were out there. I had my gun in hand if they were out. I spent a lot of time protecting or guarding my plants.

   I wonder if we are that vigilant in protecting ourselves from the temptations to sin? Are we that proactive in fighting against sin? The Enemy of our souls is always after us to destroy us, yet, are we keeping our guards up to protect ourselves from his traps?

   The Bible tells us to do something specific. In Ephesians, chapter 6, we are told to 'put on the whole armor of God'. If you ask any professing Christian, they are probably aware of this command, and they probably think they are doing it. But are we? Are we really putting on the whole armor of God, or do we just acknowledge that God told us to put on the whole armor of God? Do we even really know what that means?

   A friend told me one time, that she is positive that most professing Christians do not read their Bibles on a regular basis. She admitted that she had just started reading the Bible for herself. Many of us have at least one Bible in the house. Some have several. Do we read them and let God speak to us through them, or, do we just acknowledge that the Bibles are there, in our homes, and think that they are effective just because we own one?

   If we lived in a Third World Country, and if we personally know Jesus Christ, we would be reading our Bibles, if we have one. In America, we have everything we want at our fingertips. God takes a back seat to everything we do. We consult Him if everything else fails, or, we blame God for our failures. We are not hungry enough for God, here in the United States. The devil has played a trick on us, and I include myself here. Other things take a greater priority than God does. If we lost everything we own, we could become bitter. If we lived in a Third World Country, it wouldn't matter because we wouldn't have material things that are so valuable to us.

   God wants us to feed upon His word. That is not the same as going through a ritual everyday of reading so many chapters in the Bible so we can check that task off when we get done. We take in God's word to us, and it builds faith in us, when we feed upon it. Faith is a great weapon against the devil.

  We have heard it said, 'Preach the Gospel to yourselves'. In Ephesians 6, we are told to have our feet shod with the Gospel of peace. The power of God is in the Gospel. In Revelation 12:11, we are told that 'they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony'. In Colossians, chapter 2, Jesus' death accomplished the disarming of the powers of darkness. No wonder the devil doesn't want us to know God's word.

  The devil is full of lies. God is full of truth. The way we combat the lies of the devil is to present the truth. The truth extinguishes lies. But if we don't know the truth, if we are not growing in our relationship with God and understanding Him more clearly, we will not be able to combat the lies of the devil. We probably won't even know they are lies because they will seem plausible to us. But if we have the 'mind of Christ' we will be able to discern between the truth and the lies.

  Yes, God tells us to be vigilant. We are not bystanders in a civil war. Whether we like it or not, we are participating in this battle. But, we might be playing on the wrong side, if we are not being proactive. Just as I am being proactive in dealing with the squirrels, we must be proactive in dealing with the powers of darkness. The alternative is that we will become casualties in this war, or worse, castaways, who will lose out in the kingdom of God. It doesn't have to be that way though. We are on the winning side. We must stay awake and keep our guards up at all times.

They are no longer cute. They are destructive.