Rainey’s Story:
George is my parent’s cat, not a fancy cat, just your plain old country tom cat now living in a big city. His “meow” is constant and sweet, his color is orangey peach with stripes; and even though he’s a cat, he is still part of the family.
In the early evening, just before sunset, I received a frantic phone call from my daughter Kamryn who had been staying with her grandparents. “Mommy, we’ve got to pray for George to come home. He’s been gone for days.”
Now, I’m thinking: he’s a cat, he lived in the country, he can take care of himself; after all, as an outdoor cat, he’s probably making the rounds in his new neighborhood. I told her I’d pray and hung up the phone. No problem! The prayer would remedy the situation.
Hours later the Holy Spirit impressed upon me I needed to really think about George and the seriousness of my daughter’s request for prayer. I sensed that if I prayed with her God would answer her request. A portion of scripture came to mind while I was mulling this over “all things work together for good to them that love God.” (Romans 8:28) Yes Lord… but does this Scripture really apply to a cat? I don’t think this Scripture even fits the circumstance.
Of all the things I’ve seen my Heavenly Father do, none of them had to do with an animal. So I did what most people do when they know in their spirit the Lord is speaking to them. I fought it. I ignored it. I didn’t want to think about it. No matter what I did the rest of that day I could not shake the thought of that cat and how my daughter felt so strongly about praying for his return. I knew God remained serious about me praying with her.
Lord, if I pray for George, you better bring him back; I don’t care if it’s to the front porch or the back porch, just bring that silly little tom cat back! I had a “no holding my irritation back” conversation with God. I called my daughter and we prayed for George’s return. The next morning my daughter called. I still get chills when I think about her telling me the news. “Mom, you’re not going to believe this; when I woke up I felt this heaviness on my chest and I moved but it was still there, so I opened my eyes and it was George! Mom, God heard our prayers!”
I’m not saying God just supernaturally put George on her chest out of thin air. My dad had heard George meowing and let him in the house. However, I do believe God “worked all things together” and directed George to where Kamryn slept as if to say upon her waking “Surprise!”
