Great Escape

Isaiah 41:13 -- "I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand and say to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you."

Sleek green and velvety smoothness scurried across the floor and under a shelf. The little Anole lizard had wandered into the garage and promptly under a shelf. Not wanting her to meet our cats, I had been running around like a crazy person trying to catch the little bugger and get her back outside. She needed the cool dirt and lush leafy green of the shrubs in the front - not a cracked concrete floor with motor oil and spilled fertilizer. If I could speak lizard - I could tell her I was just trying to help her out.

The Florida Anole Lizard [female]

Green lightning bolted from the shelf to the lockers - where I banged my head on the corner of a door that won't stay closed - and from the lockers to the window sill behind some blinds that have seen better days.

Aha!!  I can get her there!

I gently separate two of the blinds that had yellowed and were bleached from the Florida sun to find her up against the corner in the middle of a bug grave yard and old spider webs. She looked up at me and she turned her head in that I-have-a-question angle that animals sometimes have. And there I trapped her, cupping my hands and gingerly letting her panic run her into my palm. Careful not to break her tail, I took her out front and into the hedges all the while whispering to her [because I'm sure she can understand English] "don't freak out, I'm here to help you."

Whew! That was an ordeal.

I see this verse in my head. Isaiah 41:13. And I can imagine God watching me thrash around on the dirty floor of life while He's trying to guide me back into the green, the soft, and the cool of the path that He knows is better for me. But I'm blind with panic and run in every direction but the ONE He has laid out for me. He whispers to me, "don't be afraid, I will help you." But I'm so often way too focused on getting MYSELF out of the garage - the predicament - the crisis, or what have you - that I can't hear His voice. Nor do I calm enough to see the escape He has provided.

And I am thankful that He does not give up and leave me to my self-induced fate. He waits. He is the Lord, MY God and will hold my hand through this life. If I give Him my panic, my life - and allow Him the wheel - I can be soothed, calmed, and back on the more efficient and plentiful path, rested and unafraid
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