The other day I walked into our little Malaysian “kitchen” to throw something away. We had a mandarin orange box partially collapsed beside the garbage can, and I saw a lizard sitting on it. No matter how close I got, he didn’t move…odd. They usually scurry away as soon as you get even remotely close to them.
I went and told my teammates and Tara came in to check it out as well. When we looked closer we saw that he was stuck to the sticky strip leftover from the tape that held the box together.
The more we watched him there, the more it broke my heart. We grabbed a spoon and tried to gently peel his belly and tail off. He still wasn’t free but he could move more freely, but that meant that he could thrash. By thrashing he was more likely to hurt himself. When he was calm we could more easily get him free.
By watching the lizard, I saw that he reflected how we can be in life.
We get caught up in our sin. We get stuck. The more we try to get out of it ourselves the more we’re going to hurt ourselves. We have to have God come in and save us. He will help us if we let him, but he’s a gentleman and won’t force himself on us. He pursues us relentlessly, but waits for us to invite him into our lives.
I know that I can get a taste of his freedom, and think that I’m home free. I start to think I can do it on my own. I try, but I’m human and fall to temptation and sin so easily. I thrash. I try to free myself but all it does is hurt. Just as it broke my heart to watch this little gecko hurt himself, it break God’s heart to watch us do the same.
Healing requires patience. I have to wait on the Lord, and trust his timing.
God’s made progress but there are (as Robert Frost says) “miles to go before I sleep” until we fully walk into the people that he created us to be: free.
