But There Is A Mouse That Wrangles Scorpions
It's funny how certain things can resonate with the mind long after its first encounter.
When this occurs, you may not even realize the significance at the time. You might not even realize that it has any meaning at all until it's brought to the forefront of your conscience at just the right juncture.
I had such an experience in the not-too-distant past. This has been swimming in the deep parts of my soul for some time now and I find myself continuing to draw encouragement from it. Perhaps it's time I share it - who knows, maybe it'll encourage someone else.
My brother introduced me to a fabulous BBC nature documentary called "Hidden Kingdoms". It's a three-part series and at the date of this post it can still be viewed on Netflix. I've never seen a nature documentary quite like it before. It's filled with drama, amazing camera angles and excitement! My kids and I found ourselves cheering on the little creatures in the film. We even felt heartbroken for the dung beetle that tragically lost his carefully crafted ball of dung over the edge of a "cliff"! I never thought I'd empathize with a dung beetle, but I found myself feeling for the little guy and wishing him all the best in his short life.
But there was another creature on the show that popped up unexpectedly in my mind long after I first saw him.
Despite its name, the grasshopper mouse's fame comes not from eating grasshoppers, but from eating scorpions. This is why it is sometimes referred to as the scorpion mouse. The scorpion mouse is immune to the scorpion's venom. While wrangling the arachnid, the mouse will be stung over and over again yet it prevails in the end. Amazing, really, considering that the mouse is same size as the scorpions it catches. If we were to put humans on the same scale, I doubt most of us would have the courage to even try to wrangle such a creature.
Cool creature, right? Yes, I agree. But I quickly forgot about it and went along with my day-to-day life without giving it anymore thought.
A few days after watching the exciting and perilous lives of some of the smallest mammals in our world, I took a walk through my neighborhood in an attempt to clear my mind of all the clutter that was plaguing me. At the time, I was contemplating a very difficult issue that I was facing in my life. At the time, several friends and family members of mine were also walking through some heartbreaking and challenging issues. I wasn't alone in my sorrow. They were feeling it, too.
It felt too big.
Too much.
Too heavy of a burden to carry.
...
As my eyes welled with tears my sorrow was interrupted by an unexpected thought that responded to what I was thinking -
"But there is a mouse that wrangles scorpions."
I immediately understood the analogy.
God knows exactly how to speak to the very core of my being. It's almost always from science, from nature. Things that I can see, hear, feel, and touch.
This vibrated so deep within my soul that I felt the need to repeat the phrase several times as I continued walking down the road in order to fully process the meaning.
"But there is a mouse that wrangles scorpions."
My inner dialogue went a little something like this:
"Out in the Arizona desert, there is a little mouse that hunts, wrangles and eats scorpions.
A mouse. Prey.
Yet this mouse has defied the odds that are stacked against him and goes out each night to face a monster.
Everything I need to handle my opposition has been inside of me all along, placed there by God for moments just like these. I am the mouse and I can wrangle the scorpion."
For me, this was one of those mind-blown kind of moments. The kind of moment where you feel as if a bomb has just gone off in your mind yet you feel light, hopeful and at peace.
"But there is a mouse that wrangles scorpions."
It was the encouragement I needed at that moment to face my own monster. Sometimes all we can do is stand. When we've done everything else we know to do, we stand. We face our fear. We look our monster in the eye knowing that we have all that we need.
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." - Ephesians 6:14
At some point in our lives, we all face a 'day of evil'. We face this evil when the doctor says there's nothing else he can do, when we lose a loved one, when we get the diagnosis, when we feel we must hide who we truly are, when a natural disaster strikes, when a friend turns her back, when God seems dead, when we are betrayed by someone we trust, when the burden of living is too much, when the pain won't go away, when we are told that we no longer have a job, when we are abused, when we lose a baby that no one ever knew about, and when the longing of an empty womb is too much to bear. It is then that we put on our armor and choose to stand. We face our monster. We fight and we do not give up.
I like to believe that God allowed the evolution of that little mouse just for me, just so He could use it as an example to show me how he has already equipped me for the life I have been given. I could be wrong, but I don't care. I choose to believe it anyway because it gives me hope. And I am nothing if I don't have hope.
"But there is a mouse that wrangles scorpions."
Be blessed today.
You are loved. :)
-L
When this occurs, you may not even realize the significance at the time. You might not even realize that it has any meaning at all until it's brought to the forefront of your conscience at just the right juncture.
I had such an experience in the not-too-distant past. This has been swimming in the deep parts of my soul for some time now and I find myself continuing to draw encouragement from it. Perhaps it's time I share it - who knows, maybe it'll encourage someone else.
My brother introduced me to a fabulous BBC nature documentary called "Hidden Kingdoms". It's a three-part series and at the date of this post it can still be viewed on Netflix. I've never seen a nature documentary quite like it before. It's filled with drama, amazing camera angles and excitement! My kids and I found ourselves cheering on the little creatures in the film. We even felt heartbroken for the dung beetle that tragically lost his carefully crafted ball of dung over the edge of a "cliff"! I never thought I'd empathize with a dung beetle, but I found myself feeling for the little guy and wishing him all the best in his short life.
But there was another creature on the show that popped up unexpectedly in my mind long after I first saw him.
Despite its name, the grasshopper mouse's fame comes not from eating grasshoppers, but from eating scorpions. This is why it is sometimes referred to as the scorpion mouse. The scorpion mouse is immune to the scorpion's venom. While wrangling the arachnid, the mouse will be stung over and over again yet it prevails in the end. Amazing, really, considering that the mouse is same size as the scorpions it catches. If we were to put humans on the same scale, I doubt most of us would have the courage to even try to wrangle such a creature.
Cool creature, right? Yes, I agree. But I quickly forgot about it and went along with my day-to-day life without giving it anymore thought.
A few days after watching the exciting and perilous lives of some of the smallest mammals in our world, I took a walk through my neighborhood in an attempt to clear my mind of all the clutter that was plaguing me. At the time, I was contemplating a very difficult issue that I was facing in my life. At the time, several friends and family members of mine were also walking through some heartbreaking and challenging issues. I wasn't alone in my sorrow. They were feeling it, too.
It felt too big.
Too much.
Too heavy of a burden to carry.
...
As my eyes welled with tears my sorrow was interrupted by an unexpected thought that responded to what I was thinking -
"But there is a mouse that wrangles scorpions."
I immediately understood the analogy.
God knows exactly how to speak to the very core of my being. It's almost always from science, from nature. Things that I can see, hear, feel, and touch.
This vibrated so deep within my soul that I felt the need to repeat the phrase several times as I continued walking down the road in order to fully process the meaning.
"But there is a mouse that wrangles scorpions."
My inner dialogue went a little something like this:
"Out in the Arizona desert, there is a little mouse that hunts, wrangles and eats scorpions.
A mouse. Prey.
Yet this mouse has defied the odds that are stacked against him and goes out each night to face a monster.
Everything I need to handle my opposition has been inside of me all along, placed there by God for moments just like these. I am the mouse and I can wrangle the scorpion."
For me, this was one of those mind-blown kind of moments. The kind of moment where you feel as if a bomb has just gone off in your mind yet you feel light, hopeful and at peace.
"But there is a mouse that wrangles scorpions."
It was the encouragement I needed at that moment to face my own monster. Sometimes all we can do is stand. When we've done everything else we know to do, we stand. We face our fear. We look our monster in the eye knowing that we have all that we need.
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." - Ephesians 6:14
At some point in our lives, we all face a 'day of evil'. We face this evil when the doctor says there's nothing else he can do, when we lose a loved one, when we get the diagnosis, when we feel we must hide who we truly are, when a natural disaster strikes, when a friend turns her back, when God seems dead, when we are betrayed by someone we trust, when the burden of living is too much, when the pain won't go away, when we are told that we no longer have a job, when we are abused, when we lose a baby that no one ever knew about, and when the longing of an empty womb is too much to bear. It is then that we put on our armor and choose to stand. We face our monster. We fight and we do not give up.
I like to believe that God allowed the evolution of that little mouse just for me, just so He could use it as an example to show me how he has already equipped me for the life I have been given. I could be wrong, but I don't care. I choose to believe it anyway because it gives me hope. And I am nothing if I don't have hope.
"But there is a mouse that wrangles scorpions."
Be blessed today.
You are loved. :)
-L
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