How To Eat A Pecan

     Have you ever wondered how a little squirrel can crack open a tough pecan or hickory nut shell? During my college years I inherited a “pet” squirrel and spent many hours observing his mischievous actions. The squirrel could run around my body so fast that I could not catch him. He loved to crawl up the sleeve of my sweater and go to sleep there. He loved to taste everything with his sharp teeth. I have observed him go up to an aluminum frame of the window and take a “bite” out of the frame! Until I had the pet squirrel I assumed that squirrels just put a nut in their mouth and cracked it; not so! Observing my pet I learned that they hold a nut and scratch on it with their teeth for 20 – 30 seconds, until they scratch a small hole in the nut. Then they chip away at the hole until it’s big enough for them to get to the meat.

     Some of our challenges in life are like the squirrel trying to eat the pecan. These challenges are not overcome in a single day or with a single prayer. It takes some consistent work and patience to overcome these types of challenges. The Bible says that some things come only by fasting and praying. I had a big challenge one time and prayed about it. God spoke to me and told me that he was going to take care of the problem. I assumed that it would be over in a couple of weeks; not so. God answered my prayer in a great way, although it was over a year before he answered. God’s time is usually quite different from what we think it should be, but he always knows what’s best for us; so when the big challenges come, just keep on praying and watch God move the mountains for you!

An Earth Quake in Texas

    At the first sign of light this morning I walked out in the woods behind our house, and quietly climbed up in the old tree house. Our tree house is high up in an Oak tree that is leaning over a small creek. It was a beautiful morning. The wind was absolutely calm and everything was quite. I was straining my ears and eyes listening and looking for any wildlife moving in the woods. All of a sudden I felt a slight tremor in the tree. I figured that it was the wind starting to blow. Then I felt a much strong shaking of the tree. I knew someone must be climbing up the tree to join me, but looked over the edge and saw no one. I had never experienced an earth quake in Central Texas, but figured that this must be the first one. Then I felt the shaking again, and saw the source of the shaking. The tree I was in had a very long limb stretching over the creek. The squirrels used the limb as a freeway for crossing over the creek without having to swim. A small squirrel had jumped on the very end of the limb, causing the whole tree to shake! Each step he took caused the entire tree to shake again. I was awed that such a small lightweight creature could shake a huge tree! The squirrel continued his travel passing within inches of my feet with only a passing glance at me.

    Sitting in the tree, while trying to recover from the “earth quake”, I started thinking about how such a very small squirrel could cause the huge Oak tree to shake. This reminded me of what a tremendous impact we as Christians can make in our world, when we have God on our side! Paul and Silas actually prayed down an earth quake” after being put in jail! In Luke 1:37 we read: “with God nothing shall be impossible”. James 5:17 tells us that “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months”! Dream big and pray and you may be surprised to see what happens!

Staying Alert!

I love the outdoors and God has blessed me with a house that backs up to a wooded area. I usually take a walk in the woods every morning. I have cleared a lot of trails in the woods, and usually keep them raked of rustling leaves so I can walk silently and observe all the creatures that God has created. If you spend any time in the outdoors, you have probably heard the animals making all types of noises. Almost all types of animals have some way of communicating with each other. As I was walking in the woods this morning, I detected an angry chattering from a squirrel. The closer I got, the more squirrels joined in the fussing. They were clearly very disturbed by something. Sometimes you hear two squirrels chasing each other and barking, but this was clearly more than two squirrels and they were very upset. I slowed my walk and quietly continued down the winding trail. I paused as I stepped around a corner, and saw what the squirrels were upset about. Sitting in the middle of the trail, and staring up at a bunch of squirrels was a very disgusted fox! Fortunately for the squirrels, at least one of them was alert and saw the hungry fox before he could pounce on one of them. By the time I arrived every animal within 100 yards was alerted to the hungry fox. All the squirrels lived to eat again the next day! The fox went off hungry, his plans for a tasty meal spoiled by an alert squirrel!

  The Bible talks about the “little foxes that spoil the vines.” Foxes are one of the smaller predators in the outdoors, but they can still cause a lot of havoc. Just as the small foxes cause havoc for the wildlife, there are many small things that can spoil the “vines of our lives.” We need to be alert and vigilant for the “foxes” that come after us. Evil temptations can overtake us if we are not careful. In I Thessalonians 5 Paul talks about the “end times” and warns us to “watch and be sober”.

At times our fellow Christians get so busy that they may not see or hear the “fox” coming. As Christians we need to also watch out for our fellow Christians, just as the first squirrel that spied the fox and warned the other squirrels. Ezekiel 33 talks about the “watchman” whose job is to warn the people of danger and reminds the watchman that he will be held accountable if he see “danger” and fails to warn the people. Live for God and stay alert to the dangers in your spiritual life!