Entangled in a web....of my own making?

I walked into our chicken house and found a poor scared little mouse. At first I thought she was just hanging out in some string dangling in a corner of the feed area. But she didn't run away--and then I realized she couldn't!

A closer look discovered she was painfully hung-up in the string. Yes, in her nest-building effort she had become entangled in the very strings she was trying to drag away to her nest. She was horribly stuck! Check out this video of the situation.

What happened next? As you observed, my best attempts to help her wiggle from her confines didn't work. She was terrified, so I couldn't touch her for fear of being bitten. At the end of the video I had to put my phone down to retrieve some scissors. I'd carefully cut her free....and that worked, but even then it wasn't easy. Probably hours of wriggling had tightened the the strings across and around her little belly and back legs. She was wearing a tiny string girdle. Gradually my persistence to free her and her not so unconfused patience with my help prevailed. She was finally able to slip down, scamper across the floor, and then race out the door into the yard. 

It occurred to me how this little Mousie Incident might offer a valuable instructive lesson. How easily we can become imperiled by the very things we think are in our best interests. (Proverbs 16: 9) What we may initially anticipate as a blessing can sometimes become...a curse. But how does and how can one discern the difference--before it's too late? I think the key is time and wise (informed) perseverance. When or as we become (let's say) "vexed" by our effort to persevere, and fearful of missing out on our dream--one that's intended to be in your very best interests--it's important to be asking some prayerful questions in the counsel of and with the input of some close, caring friends. 

As you know, I'm in the midst of a challenging support-raising effort. God willing its successful outcome will place me in a ministry role on the CSM campus. BUT I have a time-limited window of opportunity to make that happen. That fact alone could emotionally impale me. So far the effort isn't going well, which could make me really fussy. But I'm not going to let it beat me; I will not allow myself to be vexed by the to-this-point-poor-outcome of my best efforts, nor will I allow myself to assume OR DEMAND that the support-raising success HAS TO HAPPEN! (Proverbs 3: 5 & 6) I will trust in the God of the challenge, not in the nature, promises, or outcome of the challenge.

I sincerely appreciate your ongoing prayers on my behalf...and please stay away from "mousie hang-ups!"

Dick