Last summer I moved into a small rental house. I had just taken a new job and wanted to get my feet on the ground in my new community. My house is small. It was built in 1949 and is nothing fancy, but it fit my needs. As I was cleaning the closet in my bedroom, I climbed up a step ladder to reach the top shelf. That is when I saw it! An uninvited visitor had left a calling card on my shelf, several small black 'calling cards' to be exact. I didn't see the culprit, and I didn't want to either. OH NO!!! I was not going to share my closet with anyone. I immediately called my sisters to share the dreadful news (misery loves company you know). I said, "Guess what was in my closet? The thing of which we do not speak!". Having grown up on a farm in the country, I was very familiar with mice who felt they could run around the house. But it had been a long time since I lived at home on the farm and I was no longer accustomed to rodent roommates. I quickly devised a plan of attack.
The most successful battle plans involve learning about your enemy. Did you know a mouse can squeeze through a hole 17.5 mm in diameter? That is slightly smaller than a dime-sized hole. How can an adult mouse wiggle through such a small hole? Well, a couple of points I discovered: 1. Mice have a lot of hair. If you shaved off their hair (I would never do this), you would see mice have a very small body. 2. Mice do not have collarbones. Did you ever see a mouse with broad shoulders? I didn't think so. Anyway, enough mice facts. Suffice to say, mice are sneaky little devils that can make their way into your home in areas where you would least expect it.
I decided the best plan was to limit any points of entry for the furry, little intruders. I made a trip to a local hardware store and purchased two cans of expanding spray foam. My bedroom closet had noticeable gaps running from the ceiling to the floor. Let me just say, when I got finished with my cans of foam, there were no gaps left in my closet. A skinny mosquito couldn't have flown through the foam-sealed seam. I was quite satisfied with myself! The job was not that aesthetically pleasing, but as long as it kept the you-know-what out of my closet, appearances were not that important. Finally, I could place my clothes and shoes in my closet without fear of encountering a pest.
Operation Expanding Foam seemed to work great and I reveled in the knowledge that my closet was secured. I moved happily through the summer and into the fall. My landlords suggested I place some mouse deterrent (aka poison) in strategic areas around my home in anticipation of cooler weather. I wasn't worried at all. My closet was secured and I had not seen evidence of any mouse intrusion in other parts of my house. However, to appease my landlords, I agreed to place the small, green rectangular blocks in areas which mice might find attractive. I put a couple in a high cupboard next to the attic crawl space, one in my enclosed back porch, one under my kitchen sink and one in the cabinet over my washing machine. After placing the poison blocks, I never gave them much thought. Oh, I would occasionally notice the one on my back porch or the one in my laundry room cabinet, but the blocks remained undisturbed for months. And then it happened..... I opened the laundry cabinet to get my detergent and noticed the little green block was not so rectangular anymore. In fact, it was not sitting in the space it had occupied for months! The edges of the block were chewed off, whittled unmercifully by tiny, rodent teeth. And....you guessed it....little, black 'calling cards' were all over my laundry cabinet shelf. Thankfully, the untidy visitor had left the building. I did not see him in action. I cleaned everything up and took a closer look at possible entry points. That's when I noticed the area around an old outlet. Some previous tenant had covered an opening with duct tape and the tape was no longer doing the job. I wasn't sure my foam trick would work as well on this problem, so I decided to stuff steel wool in every possible crack. Any mouse would have to gnaw their way through layers of steel to get back in!
I wish I could report that I never had another rodent incident But alas, another crafty mouse did manage to make one more appearance in my laundry room cabinet. Just as with the first episode, I noticed the green block had been moved and dined upon. I added some extra steel wool and, thankfully, I have seen no further evidence of intrusion.
I wanted to share my mouse dilemma because I think we can apply it to our Christian walk. What does this story have to do with my Christian life? Bear with me.... I started thinking about this while listening to a sermon by Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church. You know how sometimes you hear one line that seems to stick in your head? Well, Pastor Furtick said, "The part of your heart you don't give God becomes enemy territory". That line really grabbed me. It reminded me of a verse about giving the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:27 says, "Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him] (Amplified Bible). Now, the previous verse, Ephesians 4:26, is warning against letting the sun go down while you're angry, as this could allow the devil an opportunity (verse 27). Even though this admonition is about anger, I believe it is a great reminder that our enemy, our adversary, is constantly looking for an entry point to attack. A foothold is a place where a person can lodge their foot to support themselves. But another definition of foothold is a "secure position from which further progress may be made" (Oxford Dictionary, 2020).
In my battle against the mouse, I felt certain I had secured my territory. I had seen a problem, I had assessed the damage, I had made a plan, and I had executed my strategy! Yet, I failed to recognize a vital break in my protective perimeter. How many times do I approach my Christian walk with such an I-centered mentality? How many times have I been cruising along thinking I had everything under control without realizing there was a gaping hole in my defenses? Just because I didn't see signs of a mouse invasion on a daily basis did not mean the mouse was not planning to return! Mice are sneaky, quiet and opportunistic. And so is our enemy. If a mouse made a lot of noise trying to come into my house it would have been easy to stop the problem in its tracks. But just as a thief doesn't announce himself as he is sneaking through your window, so our enemy tries to sneak quietly into our lives every chance he gets. Mice can be destructive. Fortunately, I have not seen any further evidence of damage. However, our enemy always comes to bring us damage. John 10:10a (CJB) reminds us that the thief (the devil) comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy. The enemy is not content with making a brief appearance and then rushing away. Steal, kill and destroy!! Those are serious battle plans. I don't know about you, but I want to be sure God has all of me. I don't want any part of my heart or life to become enemy territory. Rather than take an I-centered approach to defeating the enemy, I must learn to turn everything over to the Lord.The second half of John 10:10 is the key God gives us to defeat the enemy. Here is the entire verse: "The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy: I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure" (CJB). The perfect answer to foil the enemy's plans. The enemy cannot reside in God-claimed territory!
I challenge you...ask God to take a close look and show you any holes that need to be addressed to keep the enemy at bay. I know I am asking Him that very thing. Keep listening...
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