Lessons From a Mongoose

Since my retirement, I have been spending more quality time relaxing in the small backyard garden of my townhouse, which has become my haven for my devotions. I am fascinated by the chirping birds meticulously building nests, feeding, and teaching their babies to fly. Sometimes they get a little hysterical when I approach my plants.

Other birds and butterflies visit regularly just to collect food.

I also have bees, which I am not fond of but tolerate because they also have their role to play. I have many lizards, which sometimes run across my ankles, but fortunately, they do not scare me. While praying one morning, my usual tranquility was ruffled as I heard a rustling in the fallen leaves, unlike any I had heard before.

I opened my eyes in time to see a mongoose race past me and disappear! After a flood of adrenaline washed over me, I reassured myself with the fact that it had gone over the wall to visit my neighbor. I know little about these critters except that they are typically rural wildlife dwellers. I have noticed they can sometimes appear somewhat suicidal as they race across the road as I drive through the countryside. What I know for sure is that they do not belong in my garden! And Google informed me that they feed on lizards and birds—my welcomed guests. A few weeks later, there was a literal rerun; most likely, it was the same disorientated mongoose. Later, while analyzing my mongoose situation, I thought about how much like Satan it is. Uninvited, it invades the place where I enjoy my Eve moments, worshiping my Creator and appreciating His creation. The thought that it could possibly be nearby disturbs me, as Satan does, so I must remind myself from the Word that “God has not given us a spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV).

Because that old mongoose appears unexpectedly, I am now always on guard in my garden, as I really should be in my spiritual life—should Satan make an appearance.

I wish I could tell you that the mongoose is out of my life, but sadly, the fact that I do not see it does not mean it is gone for good.

So I am treating it like I do Satan.

Daily, I ask the Creator to keep them both out of my space.

Cecelia Grant