December 07, 2024
Editorials and columns
Dec 7, 2024
Dave Myers
Everyday Faith
A few years back, I white-tail hunted with a group of guys over in Brutus for several gun
Seasons.
The “camp” we ran was minimal at best. We started out in a pop-up camper that got frost in it, and cooking was done over a campfire.
Being at the end of a dead-end road and dropping off its side to catch a two-track driveway that led back to Pete’s landlocked 80 acres provided lots of adventures.
We had suffered through that for several years for the camaraderie, but Pete, the elder statesman of our group, proudly announced that he had bought a hard-sided camper for us to sleep in.
We were all pretty excited about the upgrade that Pete was providing, but there was also a lingering question about the quality of that “new” camper.
You see, Pete was known to be a “make-doer.” He frequently stopped along the roadside to pick up free items he “could use one day.”
That summer when he announced the upgrade, we were skeptically excited.
Gun season was soon upon us, so we all converged at Pete’s. As we got to camp, we pulled in with a sense of satisfaction. The camper was a vintage 1970's lime green color, but, inside, it was quite nice.
We unloaded our gear, made up our beds, and proceeded to have a nice meal.
Following dinner, we pulled out the cards and played euchre while we caught up on the events of the last year.
Eventually, we looked at the clock and decided that it was time to cash it in.
Everyone hunkered into their bunks and the lights were turned off. We each said our closing remarks for the day and waited to drift off to sleep.
That was when we started to hear tiny, faint scratching noises. No one wanted to say anything at first, but, all of a sudden, my brother-in-law let out a war hoop that would have scared anyone out of their beds.
“Something just ran across me!”
At that point, we all acknowledged the scurrying and scratching. As we talked it over, we popped the flashlights on to look around and found beady little eyes peering back at us.
We had a mice infestation!
Everywhere.
We had a brief conversation about heading to a local motel, but it was late and we figured the rooms would be occupied, anyway.
We decided just to stay put and try to get some shut-eye in spite of the mice.
We all went back to bed, turned off the lights, and the darned things resumed their scurrying around the camper, scratching from inside the walls.
As I laid there, I had a brilliant thought.
I have my cinch sleeping bag for super cold temperatures. I’ll just cinch that completely over my head, covering my whole body, until all that’s left is a little breathing hole.
I cinched that sleeping bag down as tight as I could get it, thoroughly appreciating my solution.
I laid there much more relaxed than before, knowing that a mouse couldn’t get up inside. That is until I started thinking about how I had created one small entrance into my sleeping bag — a direct shot into my mouth.
That was it! I just couldn’t take it anymore.
The thought of a mouse dive-bombing into my mouth through that little hole just became unacceptable.
The only resolution to that quandary was to roll over and bury my head in my pillow.
“Wouldn’t it be hard to breathe then, especially since there was only a little hole?,” you might ask.
Absolutely. I practically suffocated that night, but, when the choice was a lack of oxygen or a mouse entering into your mouth, I played the odds.
Needless to say, no one slept a wink that night. Not only was I not sleeping, my mind wandered all night long about the mice — where they were, if they were going to run across me (which they did), and if I could keep them out of my sleeping bag.
It was a rough one!
We completely 100% had an absolute infestation that surrounded us.
And I would suggest to you that, as a Christian today, you might feel similarly — that we are surrounded by an infestation of sin.
As a nation, we have been on a trajectory for quite a while now in which Godly principles have been set aside by one institution after another. But that only happens because there are individual people in those institutions who are equally willing to set aside Godly principles.
I know many have been praying that our country would break out in a revival, returning to the wholesomeness and righteousness of previous Godly eras.
I would suggest that, if that is going to take place, it’s because Christians are serious about their faith and are personally willing to live out their faith every day. Revival starts within the church, not outside of it.
If we truly want revival to sweep across this nation, you and I, as Christians, need to do a pointed assessment of where our spiritual walks are. There’s no need to point fingers at others in what they are doing. We simply need to refocus ourselves on being the salt and light of the world that Jesus called us to be.
If we are truly seeking God first and foremost, he’ll take care of the rest.
Are we surrounded by an infestation of sin?
Yes, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
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