The Lion and the Mouse

We live in a world of self-sufficiency.  A child as young as age 2 (or in s few cases even younger) cries out, "I can do it myself!"  Give the same child a couple more years and they will say, "I don't need help!"  A little later on and it's "I don't need ANY one to help me!"  Then the majestic years of the teen cries out, "You just don't understand!  I can handle this myself!"  The twenties begin to ask the question, "Can I do this?"  Give them a little more time and it becomes, "Maybe I could use a little help."  If they are truly honest with themselves they will one day reach the point of, "I cannot do this alone.  I am desperate for help!"  The problem is, most never reach the final stage.  Okay, they reach it, but they are too prideful to admit it.
Yesterday in Sunday School I read the story of the lion and the mouse.  A quick synopsis is that a little mouse, not paying attention to where he was going, runs over a lion's nose and wakens him.  The lion scoops up the mouse and threatens to eat him.  The mouse cries out to please be allowed to live, for the day may come when the lion needs his help.  The lion laughs uproariously at the thought of a tiny mouse being able to help a big strapping lion.  He lets the mouse go due to the mouse's bold proclamation.
A few days later, the lion becomes ensnared in a hunter's net.  He roars in frustration and believes himself lost.  Along comes the mouse, who bravely climbs up onto the net and chews the ropes to allow the lion his freedom.  The lion and mouse become fast friends from this point on.
We are so like the lion, thinking we must show the world how good, strong, capable we are.  Asking for help is a huge sign of weakness.  We are trapped in the snare of sin and death and think that we must struggle and work our own way free.  We will work ourselves into our graves if we have to in order to bring success.  The only problem there is that everyone has a different definition of success.  If we accomplish one, then we must go on to accomplish the next, and the next until we feel the snare closing in and growing tighter.  There has to be a way out!  A little more struggling, a little more effort, more education on the subject, more money spent to find the answer.........
The answer is the bold mouse who dared confront death and win.  Okay, not literally a mouse.  Not truly a mouse by any means, yet the world looks at Him as being such. 

As many were astonished at you—

chis appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—Isaiah 52:14

For he grew up before him like a young plant,iand like a root out of dry ground;

           jhe had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.Isaiah 53:2

How could one simple man get me out of this huge mess I am in?  No, I have to do it myself, or everyone will think I am a wimp.  The irony is, I am only one person as well, yet I think I can set myself free?  Sadly, we do not even recognize this irony.  Since the entire world is in the same boat, it seems logical to go on doing what we've been doing all along.  We tend to forget that if you do the same thing over and over your going to keep getting the same results.  If we will but admit defeat:
         If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all 
        unrighteousness.  I John 1:9
He will start chewing the ropes to freedom.  Little by little He will gnaw away at our pride and jealousies until one day we find ourselves recognizing the fact that He is truly doing exactly what He promised to do:
         If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised  
         him from the dead, you will be saved.  Romans 10:9
We will no longer see Him as a tiny mouse Who cannot possibly do anything for us, but as Savior and Lord!
Jesus is not simply a man, which is something the world forgets.  He IS God.  He lives and reigns whether we choose to believe or not.  Nothing can change the fact.  Only pride and jealousy stand in the way.  I pray that anyone who reads this comes to a point in time where they tire of the struggle and accept the help of the only One that can set them free.