The following is the fourth instalment of our weekly Red Rock Faith Talks from the staff at RRBC. Every Monday in May and June, the blog will feature a post from a current Red Rock staff member sharing what’s on their heart, and what God is challenging them with. This week, head counsellor, Mike Froese, shares about dead rabbits and Jesus…just keep reading.
I would like to apologize for the shocking images to follow.
(Opening with a statement like this, I can’t help but feel that we’re off to a great start.)
The roads were especially icy, and lets face it: this bunny was not on his A-game. A few winters ago a friend of mine ran over a rabbit. After hearing the tragic tale a couple days later, I suggested that we might return to the scene of the crime to reflect on the life of Mr. Rabbit. After some searching, we found this in the snow bank:
Mr. Rabbit had seen better days.
It wasn’t long before we decided that it was hardly fair to the people living nearby to leave such a mess on the side of the road. We found a cardboard box that was the right size for a rabbit (living or dead), and set about placing Mr. Rabbit into the box.
Even considering the emotional connection we had with Mr. Rabbit, neither of us felt comfortable about touching him with anything but a shovel.
It was at this point that we were surprised to find that Mr. Rabbit did not conform to the shape of the box as planned.
Mr. Rabbit was frozen solid. There was no way he was going to fit into that box.
My name is Mike, and I’ve been at camp for about four weeks now. I was reminded of this story a few days ago, and I realized how similar I am to that dead frozen rabbit on the side of the road.
Leading up to my arrival at camp this year, I was going through somewhat of a valley, or a ‘spiritual low’. My devotional life was becoming sparse, my relationship with Jesus was lukewarm at best, and I can’t say that I was ‘seeking first the kingdom’. My walk with God was at a standstill. You could say that I was ‘frozen’.
But everything was under control. I had a plan called ‘Camp’. Plan ‘Camp’ was going to work as follows:
- Go to camp (a God-centered place full of Christ-like people)
- Naturally conform to surroundings
- Fix relationship with God
As you can imagine, plan Camp was a dud. Even though camp was the perfect cardboard box for a rabbit like me, I was too frozen to fit.
We’re reading the book of John right now as a staff, and it helped me realize how stupid plan Camp was. Look at all the people in John 2 (the part where Jesus clears the temple courts). Those people were in the Father’s house, and they still managed to really upset Jesus. Since when does just being in the right environment ever change anything?
Once I realized that just being at camp was never going to fix anything, I came up with a new plan to thaw out my frozen spiritual life. This plan was called ‘Try Really Hard’. Plan ‘Try Really Hard’ worked like this:
- Try Really Hard to be spiritually disciplined
- Keep on trying real hard
- Fix relationship with God
What a surprise, plan ‘Try Really Hard’ was another dud. I quickly became defeated with my inability to be perfectly obedient and Christ-like. It was time to throw in the towel. This is all just too hard.
But it’s not just hard. It’s impossible:
“With man, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”
-Matthew 19:26
This verse spells it out perfectly. I kept trying to come up with my own plans, forgetting that God already has a plan. It’s there so plainly in John 3:16. All that is left to me is to receive the gift that I have been given. I also really like Colossians 1:27…
“…Christ in you, the hope of glory”
No matter what I think I can do on my own, whether it is putting myself in a Godly environment, or just trying my best to be obedient, I’m going to fail. It is only through Christ that I can really live like Him.
I’d like to leave you with this segment from the parable of the Prodigal Son:
“When he came to his senses… he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
I’m so thankful to have such a loving Father to welcome me home when I come to my senses.
