A Rescue Story
My hometown was rattled recently when our unofficial mascot, an old calico cat named Francine, went missing. She had been a beloved fixture at our local Lowe’s home improvement store for almost a decade, until one day, unbeknownst to anyone, she boarded a delivery truck headed to a massive distribution center in the next state. There, she disappeared into a cavernous, 1.4 million-square-foot warehouse, 85 miles from home.
When local store employees examined security footage and realized what had happened to the cat, whom they considered part of their family, they were heartbroken. They immediately began trying to find her, and many people rallied around the cause. However, days went by and her whereabouts remained elusive. As hope waned, the searchers escalated their efforts, using security cameras, heat-seeking drones, social media, humane traps, and animal trackers. Even Lowe’s Corporate got involved.
Francine’s story traveled far and wide. Tens of thousands of people (including me) rooted for her safe return. She developed quite a social media following during her adventure and was even featured in USA Today and on Good Morning America. When she was finally found, over two weeks after she went missing, thousands of people cheered. Our town even held a “Francine Fest” to celebrate her homecoming, and a lot of good came from it – community connection, pet adoptions, support for charities, and more.
After giving Francine some time to recover from her unplanned adventure, I stopped by to visit her. Making a beeline to her favorite hangout (a pile of cardboard boxes near the home and garden section), I spotted her, sleeping peacefully, oblivious to her newfound fame and all the commotion her journey had created.
Petting her soft head, I was surprised by the tears that sprang to my eyes. It took a moment to identify their cause. Sure, I was thankful and relieved that the poor old cat survived the ordeal and did not suffer and die alone and far from home. And yes, it felt good to experience such unity with my fellow humans toward a common goal, at least for a couple of weeks. But my tears stemmed from something more profound in Francine’s story that resonated with my soul. I recognized myself in her tale because Francine’s story is my story. Francine’s story is everyone’s story – or it could be.
We all entered the world like a wayward cat in a delivery truck: headed in the wrong direction, separated from the God who made and loves us. And like Francine, we were not stolen. Humanity boarded a proverbial truck in the Garden of Eden and rode away from God of our own free will.
But is anyone looking for us as passionately and relentlessly as the Lowe’s employees looked for their wayward store cat? If we reflect carefully on our lives, we realize the answer is yes: God has been searching for us as long as we can remember. Through the beauty of the created world, the care of others, the light of his word, and the quiet voice of his Spirit, he has been calling to us. Before he even made us, he made a way for us to return to him from wherever we wander. The rescue party he sent was his Son, who went to hell and back to make it possible for us to reunite with God and return home.
Just as the Lowe’s cat was oblivious to the extraordinary measures undertaken to rescue her, we will never know the enormity of God’s sacrificial work to save us. We struggle even to recognize salvation when it is right in front of us. And when we do, we hesitate to give up our fake autonomy to accept it.
Francine also resisted salvation. When she finally came out of hiding and approached one of the humane traps set to capture and rescue her, she would only eat the food outside the cage. But what looked like captivity and loss of freedom to her was the very thing that would set her free from a lonely death in that dark, enormous warehouse. It was the only thing that would enable her to return to safety, love, and belonging. Finally, desperation and hunger drove her to take the risk, and she entered.
I can relate. I spent years avoiding God’s attempts to bring me home. Despite otherworldly enticements like salvation, adoption, and eternal life, I responded with self-reliance, cynicism, doubt, and pride. Then, a day came when I was so sick I thought I might die. Only then did I recognize how lost I was and how completely unable to save myself.
Just as Francine’s rescue meant she would not live out her days isolated and scared in a foreign place, so our rescue by God means no longer living in fear of being swallowed by this dark and cavernous world. When Christ captures our hearts, we are freed from fear and brought back home to the love and security God offers.
No matter how far we have strayed, or what we have done, or what has happened to us, God loves us and wants us in his family. In fact, he wants every human story to end the way Francine’s story ended: with a homecoming celebration. When we return to him, there is a celebration in heaven, way beyond the Francine Fest. Beyond what we can even imagine.
Francine’s rescue story is an inspiring tale, and I am grateful that God can use even a wayward cat to remind me of my own salvation. The next time curiosity or temptation tries to lure me onto a truck headed away from God, I will remember Francine. I will remember her, alone and helpless in that scary warehouse, wondering where she was and how she ended up there. And I will stay right where I am, safe and loved, at home in Christ.
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