Last week, Baxter had an appointment at the veterinarian to have his weight checked. I don’t
know how he figured out that he was going, but he did. As soon as I put on my jacket for the trip, he took off and hid under the bed. I tried to call him out, but he didn’t respond. I tried bribing him with treats, but he wasn’t biting. I tried a firm, scolding tone of voice, but to no end. Finally, I had to move the bed and corner him, pick up his eighteen plus pounds, and shove him in the pet carrier for the twenty minute trip. He was not happy. He cried and cried the whole way there. Maybe he knew he would flunk the weight loss contest, or maybe he didn’t like the other cats that were in the waiting room. Whatever it was, Baxter was not subtle about his upset over the visit. The shambles left from chasing him around the bedroom was clear evidence of that. However, once he was in the examining room, he resigned himself, and became quiet and docile with the doctor.
We get that way sometimes as well. We try to hide from facing our issues. We spend a lot of
time and energy trying to avoid them. When we are finally forced to face them, we may at first get
upset about the whole situation. We blame friends and family for our predicament; we blame the experts who are trying to help us; we blame “life” for our bad luck and its woes. We do everything we can to hide from our problem and to avoid taking steps to address it. We fume and fuss until we are cornered by the issue, and then, we might resign ourselves reluctantly to doing something about it. In the meantime, the world around us may be in a shambles for our stubborn recalcitrance.
What that drives us to this state may vary. It may be a drug or alcohol addiction. It may be a
tattered relationship. It may be financial stress or job tension. Maybe we are worried about our children’s suspicious behavior. Whatever it may be, hiding the problem from ourselves and others
doesn’t solve it. It only increases the anxiety. Our imaginations start to think the worst, and we increase our worry through fear that someone might find out about our issue. Hiding in place doesn’t fool anyone, not even ourselves. It just delays the inevitable.
Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb when everyone else was worried about the stench. He
named the woman at the well’s marriage issue when she said nothing about it. He told Martha to
calm down when she was upset with Mary’s work ethic. Jesus called out His own follower when that
disciple objected to the woman who anointed His feet. He told the Zebedee brothers that it was not
for Him to give them privileged places in the Kingdom, except the place of sacrifice and suffering
through service. Jesus speaks to the issues of people’s lives in His ministry. Whether it is about faith and trust, honesty, envy and jealousy, greed or ambition, Jesus won’t allow people to hide their true motivations behind pious words and gestures. He exposes people to their own hearts, so that He can change them with His grace.
For Baxter, the scale doesn’t lie. He can’t hide from its numbers and what they indicate he
needs to do. For us, it is the Lord who confronts us with the truth of our lives and what we must do to live faithfully and fruitfully. There is no hiding from it.
