Trapped and Freed

vole-trapped

One afternoon I discovered a tiny vole trapped at the bottom of my basement’s outside stairwell, washed there by heavy rains. I figured it could escape so I left it alone, but as night approached I saw that it was still there, huddled and exposed.

Feeling the need for rescue, in one quick movement I bent down, palmed it and flung it over the steps into the grass. After a moment’s stillness it shook itself and scurried away.

As I recounted the event to a friend, I laughed and imagined what it must have been like for the animal. Without warning, some giant force had seized it and violently hurled it some unknowable distance, leaving it in the dark, mud and rain, confused and alone. I imagined its thoughts: “What? Oh no! EEEEEEEEE! Oof! Wuhh..?” The gee forces alone must have been crushing. But then it had discovered that it was safe again and its barriers were gone. “Ahhh,” it must have sighed, and hurried back home.

My friend saw the story as an analogy to challenges I have recently faced, which I imagine are similar in effect to those we all face. I have been like this vole, tossed around by life, trying to do my best but encountering impassable barriers, confused about why the barriers were there in the first place. God had intervened, scooping me up, changing everything I knew and essentially opening the world to me again. But oh, how terrifying the ride had been.

I’m still trying to shake off my disorientation and once more see life’s possibilities, but how comforting it has been to feel the love and support of God, my family and my friends. This isn’t the first time He has rescued me, nor will it be the last. And, tough though the ride may have been, I am grateful it led me back to Him.