You cry to God for a creature that has strayed from your home, pleading, “Bring him back, O Lord, right away!” This is but a small matter, yet the Lord numbers the hairs of our heads and notes the sparrow’s fall. He does not despise the prayer of an anxious heart over a dumb beast. But I would have you consider: while you are so earnest for the return of a cat, are you yourself right with God? The voice of your supplication for a mere animal might well be a faint echo of a far more urgent cry that your own soul should utter, “Return, return, O Lord, and recover me from my wanderings!”
In my ministry, I have often proclaimed that same word: Return, return! From the Song of Solomon, we hear the voices calling, “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee.” And from the prophet Jeremiah, God’s urgent message is, “Return now every one from his evil way.” Now, if you can be all on fire for a lost cat, how much more ought your soul to burn with concern over its own backslidings! The cat’s return is uncertain, its life hangs by a thread, but your life is yet more uncertain; you may not have another hour to turn unto the Lord. I would press upon you that this return should be immediate: “Return now.” Delay is the Devil’s device, and it has ruined millions.
While you pray for this small mercy, pray with the humility of Jacob, who pleaded the promises and confessed his own unworthiness. Spread your case before God, but never forget that the only acceptable plea is the blood of Jesus Christ. And bear in mind, unanswered prayer may sometimes be a chastisement for sin, or a warning against some evil harboured within. Examine your heart while you wait. Perhaps the Lord withholds the lesser good to awaken you to a far greater, even the salvation of your soul.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then these lesser things shall be added. May the Lord not only bring your cat home to your house, but bring you home to Himself, through Jesus Christ. Amen.