On my walk the other day, I saw a cat. It was sitting outside a house. It was stone still, facing the front door, staring at it, waiting for it to open. It wasn’t scratching, or pacing, or whining, just sitting there waiting patiently for that door to open. Stupid cat.
Ever push on doors? Just to test them, of course. Little shove here, little nudge there. Yet, none of them open. Doors we thought would surely crack a little remain solidly shut. I do that a lot and the Lord must remind me that I need to be more like that cat. Stupid cat.
Seeing that stupid cat made me laugh at myself and reminded me of David and the mulberry trees. 2 Samuel 5 tells the story of David and the Philistines and the mulberry trees. Shortly after David was anointed as king, the Philistines took offense and went after him—again. They deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.
So David inquired of the LORD if he should attack: “’Do not attack them straight on,’ the Lord replied. ‘Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the [mulberry] trees. When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the [mulberry] trees, be on the alert! That will be the signal that the Lord is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistine army.’” [NLT]
The Scripture reports that David did what the Lord commanded. He listened to the Lord and when he heard the marching sound in the mulberries, David defeated the Philistines. I wonder how long it took to hear the sound after he got the promise. I wonder if David waited patiently. I wonder if David was like that cat, sitting perfectly still, not scratching or pacing or whining?
I know what I would have done, I’d have been out there shaking those trees trying to make them sound like “marching feet in the tops” of them. I would have been scratching and pacing and whining too!
You would think that after all these years I would remember two things: (1) God cannot be pushed, and (2) God always keeps His promises. The marching in the mulberries happened for David, the doors God promises will open for us. We just must be more like David . . . and more like that stupid cat!
