Recently I was captivated by a story of a mother squirrel trying to help her baby squirrel scale a cement wall on the campus of UCLA. Over and over the mother squirrel patiently showed how it was done, but the little rodent couldn’t quite make the leap. The wall was simply too big.

A few college students, who caught the entire incident on video and uploaded it onto YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc-5FCd7t0U&feature=related), decided to intervene. 

At first, one of them tried to help by placing a backpack up against the part of the wall the little squirrel was attempting to climb. Eventually, the little fella climbed up on the backpack and attempted to jump on top of the wall. But it was still too high, and he fell back down to the ground. At that point, another student replaced the back pack with a couple of sandbags that were taller stacked on top of each other. This time, the mother came down and led the younger squirrel back to the wall for yet again another try. Finally, the littler squirrel climbed on top of the sandbags and scaled the daunting wall, learning a valuable lesson that could one day save his life. 

This cute little drama from the animal Kingdom reminds me of how God sometimes deals with us. One of the reasons He doesn’t instantly resolve our struggles or take away seemly insurmountable obstacles is because they provide valuable learning experiences. In some cases, they may be surfacing a deeper heart issue that He knows we need to face for our own healing and growth. 

Although it can seem like it, God has promised to never leave us alone in whatever we find ourselves in (Hebrews 13:5).  He’s still there to guide us (John 10:1-16). And while He may provide “backpacks” or “sandbags” along the way, He doesn’t intervene and do all the work for us because He knows there are still valuable truths to be learned that can restore us or undo some unholy thing in us.

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3 Responses to “Squirrels”

1. Shelly Tobaison says:

   December 18, 2009 at 12:03 pm

   Thanks for sharing this…especially the video. I cried as I watched the little squirrel and the patience of it’s mother. I so often feel like the “walls” are too big…and I am too small, or too weak, or too sinful, or too afraid. I need the reminder that God is patiently, tenderly waiting for me to learn and grow…and that He does provide those “sandbags” along the way.
2. Dolly says:

   December 21, 2009 at 10:23 am

   Hi there,
   blog.helpformylife.org – da best. Keep it going!
3. Joy says:

   January 2, 2010 at 8:11 am

   God can speak to us even through squirrels! Thank you.