I first discovered that you can pretty much take anything, anywhere and find something about it to relate to God. Not understanding the Bible and having to rely on Christian friends to explain even the parables (those biblical passages Jesus used to put things in simpler terms –still too deep for me!!) I began to try and find God and His application to my life in other ways.
One night several years ago on a business trip, having had one of the most difficult and trying days of my Marketing career, I sat alone in a strange hotel room, surrounded by paperwork that needed to be done, after having worked straight for 15 hours with 7 cranky men who resented a female being in charge, sitting cross legged on the bed, too tired to read my Bible or do my daily devotional, I opened a bag of animal crackers….breakfast , lunch and dinner and began to eat them one by one. The first one I pulled out was a lion. A lion, symbol of strength. I had none left. I was exhausted and felt as if I had been in a den of hungry lions all day…workers who wanted to tear me limb from limb. I took out my Bible and looked in the index for passages about strength.
Judges 14 This passage is about Samson who was provided with above average physical power by God so that he could do what was God’s will for him to do.
I related how that day I had been able to accomplish things I never would have been able to accomplish because I had the strength of the Lord to give me the will to finish what I had promised to do.
Nehemiah 6 This passage details the strength that God provided to Nehemiah to finish the wall in spite of many setbacks. Setbacks had been the theme of the day for me…not one task had gone without a hitch.
I knew that these verses would stick in my mind the next day as I faced another day of the same grueling pace, negative attitudes and hard, physical labor.
Not wanting to turn on the tv or even move off the bed but needing to unwind before I could sleep I began to think about each animal cracker as I pulled it out of the bag.
Next I pulled out an owl. Not exactly a Biblical animal. Not one that readily popped to mind like a whale or a lion or a lamb. Wise old owl I thought. Ah, ha….Wisdom. Again I went to my Bible and looked for Wisdom. These verses were what I read and when I finished I gave thanks to God for the mind that He had given me…….the problem solving, organized, get the job done mind set that I had been blessed with. Of course, I also thought of the sound of an owl….WHO, WHO, WHO cares I thought. The answer is crystal clear.. .even if nobody else does, GOD CARES, that’s WHO, WHO!
I read:
2 Timothy 3:15 From childhood you have know the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is Christ Jesus.
Proverbs 13, 14, 15
Through the whole bag I went, creating my own animal cracker devotional…of course I ate the duplicates without having to think about that animal anymore. Here were the other ANIMAL encounters I had that evening. Try this for yourself. Every brand has different animals…Use it with your children to talk to them about God’s special touch on everything…..even something as simple and “delicious” as an animal cracker. You could even sort the animals 2 by 2 and reflect on Noah and the ark and his faith. Here are some other Insights:
Horse the first thing that came to me was a work horse….probably because that’s what I had been all day. That got me thinking about burdens we bear. Matthew 11:28 was already familiar to me, one of my favorites. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. From there I progressed to reading the 6th chapter of Revelations because of the mention of horses . So I had turned an animal cracker horse into a mission of discovery about horses in the Bible, a mini bible study.
Zebra This was a tough one as I didn’t think Zebras were actually mentioned in the Bible and off hand I couldn’t think of any traits that Zebras were known for. So I had to stretch a bit. What came to mind was the stripes, black and white. This got me thinking about the prejudices that we have in our society. I had worked side by side that very day with a black man and a white man. As we talked back and forth through the day about our families, our work, our interests, I realized that we may be different colors, but we have similar needs, desires and dreams. Growing up in the 60’s I was very familiar with prejudice and was familiar with some misconceptions about other races. I have worked hard to overcome these prejudices, but to be honest they sometimes rear their ugly head. The zebra got me thinking about how much better the world would be if we were all truly color blind.
Duck Another tough one. Of course, “ I’m quacking up “ came to mind along with several variations of the duck jokes I‘ve heard, all of which seem to deal with quacking up or quackers or being a quack. Then the thought occurred to me that the one thing I did know about ducks was if you fed one, many more would appear. My experiences at the park with my kids when they were younger were that one bread crust offered could bring an overwhelming number of Duck friends. For food, they will walk right up and take it from your hand. This takes an enormous amount of trust. So I stared thinking about trust and the many times that I hadn’t trusted God to carry me through something. Without trust, in our relationships with God, with our spouse, with our children, with our family and friends and even with people we don’t know to an extent, we would be isolated. The term “trusted friend” came to mind. Had I been that or had I fallen prey to the need to gossip about something told to me in confidence. Had I been guilty of not trusting my children to do the right thing, even when they had not given me reason to doubt them. Trust in God is of the utmost importance. Without trusting God to fulfill his promises to us, we would not have hope. Joshua 1:9 says
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Think of the disciples when Jesus called them to go with him. They had to have a great deal of trust to walk away from their lives and follow a stranger.
Elephant Memory. Memorizing verses as a child always seemed like busy work…later when I joined a Christ Centered Weight loss group where memorizing a verse each week to recite at the scales was one of the comittments, I remember thinking how silly it was. Then a strange thing begin to happen. When I was faced with a difficult or even a good situation a memory verse, God’s advise, would pop into my head. It saved me from many difficult situations i.e. Braums Ice Cream Store…hot fudge sundae calling my name…begging me to break my diet and have one….instant gratification……..1 Corintians 10:13 became my mantra…….God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. And if you are tempted he will provide a way out, so that you can stand up under it. Or what about I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me. Yes, even resist a tempting sundae. Or if I did give in and started beating myself up because of it, I would console myself with 1 Samuel 16:7 The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart….So what if I had just added an extra pound with the indulgence. God loved me anyway!
On and on I went with each cracker causing me to stop and reflect. The
Turtle made me think of Perserverence. Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in Psalm 34, Luke 5, Acts 14, 1 Corinthians 9
The Sheep Many times in the Bible we are referred to as the Lord’s flock. The Lord is my shepherd, Psalm 23. You can even expand on sheep to think about baby sheep…lambs. The Lamb is a symbol of sacrifice, of gentleness. Jesus is the Lamb of God.
The Giraffe….this is a stretch …no pun intended….but think about sticking your neck out…Read the story of the Good Samaritian, read the story of Esther who stuck her neck out, risking her life to save her people.
Squirrel…..think about the phrase “squirreling away your money” etc. Look up passages on worldly goods, on storing up treasures. Matthew 6: 19-21 Or if the squirrel cracker brought to mind that you think you are going nuts, look up verses about turmoil and find God’s words of peace. John 14:27
Monkey Have you ever watched the monkeys at the zoo. I’m always tempted to get in the enclosure with them because they always seem to be having so much FUN. Swinging around, chasing each other, throwing things, imitating other monkeys and people. In other words, joyful existance. Think of Christian friends that radiate joy even in the midst of trials. Talk to them about their faith, about what brings them joy. Look up verses about Joy. Leveiticus 23, Deuteronomy 10, Matthew 5 and 25.
Or if you are hungry and so when you pulled out the monkey you thought of bananas, let thoughts of fruit lead you to look up the Fruits of the Spririt (Galatians 5:22-23) and meditate on each one and how it applies in your life.
For Dogs Loyalty and obedience. Or take the Friendship route and look up verses about friends. For loyalty look up Deuteronomy 23, Luke 3, 1 Corinthians 7, 2 Corinthians 6.
For obedience try Matthew 1:26; Mark 12, Luke 8, 1 Peter 4. For Friendship, look up 2 Kings 2, Proverbs 27. Or if you happen to own a dog that personifies laziness, try Proverbs 24.
Virtually every animal can teach a lesson. And what a fun way to motivate you to read God’s word. Every day make it a point to find God in an unusual place. Whether it be in a bag of animal crackers or something equally as unusual or ordinary, seek God in all you think and do….you’ll be amazed at where you find Him.
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