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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Suffering
In The Midst Of Salvation His
pathetic sounding screams were excruciatingly heart wrenching to hear,
but panic-filled pain is just part of unexpected imprisonment.
It was too distressing to just sit back and watch such sad
suffering, so hoping to relieve our anxious minds, we went inside.
Although we left him to suffer alone, we wanted so badly to
liberate him from his anguish, but we didn't.
We couldn't. Yes, we
certainly had the ability to free this cute little furry guy from his
affliction, but that would send him back into his flea-infected
miserable existence where he would not survive the cold winds of winter.
Our cute little neighbourhood feral kitten didn't realize it at
the time, but suffering through his present panic-filled pain was the
price he would pay to escape his miserable life of a street cat.
His temporary suffering would soon be replaced by his salvation.
As
sad as it was, we were the cause of his pain.
Having his best interest in mind, and motivated by compassion, we
lured this little kitten into a cage with some sweet-smelling cat food,
something that had become a long-lost memory in his life.
This little sad soul had been wandering around our property for
weeks. His penetrating eyes
were telling us his tragic story. He'd
glance up at us as if to say, "I've lost my way in life.
I need help to find my way back home?"
Becoming an emaciated, flea-infected, homeless street cat was no
life for him, and now, his
hope for a new home was a prison.
Within
an hour of our phone call, animal control took him away to be fed,
cleaned up, and vaccinated. We
were told that he appreciated the makeover.
It was evident by his happy-go-lucky expression of joy.
A couple of weeks later we saw our furry friend in another cage.
This time he was not screaming in agony.
He was resting comfortably in peace in a pet store waiting for
his adoption into a new life. Imprisonment
was the price of his freedom. Suffering
really was replaced with salvation. Just
as we knew what was best for this sad soul of a kitten, so our heavenly
Father knows what is best for our sad souls.
It's what the apostle Peter wrote about, as recorded in 1 Peter
1:6 and following. "
... though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in
all kinds of trials ... you are receiving the end result of your
faith, the salvation of your souls."
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