An incident occurred in a chilly autumn morning of 1973 when I was on my way to school.  I had just gotten out of the Marine Corps, and was a freshman in Bible college, eager to fill my head with knowledge.  God was about to teach me an extracurricular life lesson.   

I was living in a studio apartment amid the redwoods, high up in the hills above Mount Hermon, California.  I owned no car so each morning I would walk down to the main road and thumb for a ride.  God always provided a ride for me and I was never late to class.  As I was making my way down the winding road I saw an interesting scene ahead––a tableau framed by redwoods.  A large dog was barking at something in the middle of the road.  As I approached I saw that he was threatening a little beast––a mole.  For those who don’t know, moles are as near-sighted as bats.  For all intents and purposes, they’re blind.

The little guy was standing on its hind legs, its tiny paws raised in defiance as he put up a valiant defense.  The mole had the dog stumped momentarily, but I’m sure that in a few moments it would have gone the way of all flesh. 

At my approach the dog saw me and shied back.  It was just me and the little beast now, the dog looking on.  What to do?  There was a woodpile at the side of the road so I decided to put the mole in there for safety.  No way could the dog get him.  But how to get him there?  I didn’t want to get bitten, so I took off my windbreaker and put it over the mole and picked him up.  You would think the little guy would be grateful.  Instead, as I carried him over to the woodpile I could feel its raging fury in my hands.  It was snarling and hissing and scratching to get free.  Little did he know I was saving his life.

Good deed accomplished, I started back down the road, shrugging back into my jacket.  I got about twenty yards when the Holy Spirit quickened a thought in my mind.  Think about what you just did, Michael.  I stopped and looked back.  There was the dog still sitting in the road, looking a bit forlorn.  The Holy Spirit made clear that what had just happened was a parable for my life.  I am the mole.  The dog is the adversary, looking to devour me.  I cannot see him but he’s there with his bared fangs.  I also cannot see my heavenly Father who rescues me but He is there too.  He is omnipresent.  The adversary is no match for our great Savior as He lifts me out of harm’s way.  Even so, I fight and kick and snarl in my adverse circumstances, struggling, like Jacob, against God.

We all undergo trials and tribulations.  Without trying to make little of tragic events, God, as a rule, uses these to help us grow in sanctification, making us more and more like His Son Jesus.  Sometimes we behave well, trusting God to carry us through to safety.  Other times, however, we act like the little mole, fiercely snarling, and striking out in blind fury, grumbling at our circumstances.  But God is loving, He is patient, and though we cannot see Him, He is there.  He provides for us, He holds our hand, He is our refuge and carries us to safety when we are in trouble. 

               Be still and know that I am God (Ps 46:10).

Onward and Upward!