27th May 2016, 10pm
Ginger, the cat we rescued, the one my sister adopted, went missing from home.
Well, she didn’t exactly ‘go missing’; we just watched helplessly as she faded into the darkness of our roof.
The power had gone off and my parents decided to open the house door, something they never do (coincidence). The grilled gate to the house was still closed and we watched as Ginger walked up to it and tried to look outside, out to the world she has never known. My parents watched, joking that she was far too fat to fit through. But they were wrong. We watched calmly as she squeezed through and I was sent to fetch her back.
That’s when the problem started. That strange creature detests me. She saw me walking towards her and she ran up – up to the roof. I followed her calmly believing there was really nowhere she could go. But I was wrong…
The gate to the roof was locked and this cat, who we until recently believed was too fat to fit through anything, comfortably walked past the grills in the gate. I watched in horror as she walked into the darkness.
Somehow, we got the gate open and ran to the roof, a place we had never been to. The brat was nowhere in sight and our fear and worry grew as we discovered that through the roof, she could’ve exited to any one of the ten blocks that are there in the society.
We hunted high and low. There was panic, there was anger. There were screams, there were tears; but the cat was nowhere to be found.
I begged my Lord, pleading for Him to bring her back, just so my family would calm down. But she wasn’t meant to be found that night.
28th May 2016, 8am
Niviya and I went around the neighbourhood, putting MISSING CAT posters everywhere we could. My parents continued looking for her. “Cats find their way home”, some of the neighbours said. “My cats ran away 6 months back. They never come back. She’s probably dead”, said one other.
But we weren’t going to give up. Niviya wasn’t going to because she was her baby. And I wasn’t going to for the sole reason that something within me kept telling me that we would find her – alive and safe.
But soon the family began to worry. The neighbourhood had a lot of dogs. She could’ve been anywhere. She could’ve been gone.
6pm
I ran to church. I couldn’t take the grim atmosphere that had filled our home. I knew I needed to sing it away. I went to the chapel and I sat there, praying for reassurance, for a sign.
And I didn’t have to wait long for it.
Coincidentally, as I turned around, I saw the big black cat that had attacked her, that had ripped her shoulder apart – the same cat, because of who, Ginger needed to be rescued in the first place. I saw him sleeping peacefully in the corner. It was like the Lord Himself telling me – “My child, I Am the one who brought that pet into your family. I Am the One who knows where she is. I created you, and I created her. She was never yours, she is Mine. I have loved her more than you ever will. And I love you more than you ever will. I know where she is and It is up to Me to bring her back to you.”
9:30pm
Niviya and I decided to go hunting for her again, along with one of Niviya’s friends. We carried our torches and went downstairs…
…and that’s when it happened.
One of the watchmen told us that a man was trapped in one of the lifts that morning, and while rescuing him, he had seen a little brown cat on top of the lift car. Our hearts now beating faster than ever, we got the watchman to stop the elevator on the ground floor and open the doors manually on the first floor.
There she was – frightened, alone and exhausted. The little one had somehow gotten herself on top of the lift car and for twenty-four hours, she had been stuck there, moving up and down with the elevator. Somehow, the watchman hadn’t rescued her in the morning, even after seeing her; and thank goodness for that – because if he had, without knowing who she belonged to, he would’ve let her run away.
And somehow, conveniently, the very same lift that she was stuck on top off, stopped working that morning and a man had been trapped in it, waiting to be rescued in a way that the watchman could see the furry creature. Because, well, you know…coincidence.
Ginger was rescued soon enough and brought home.
And as I watched my family rejoice and thought of all the coincidences, knowing fully well how beautifully God had worked, I couldn’t help but wonder why the coincidences that lead to her running away had to take place in the first place.
But here’s what I saw…
I watched as my family wept and prayed, something we hadn’t done in a long time.
I listened as my mother, a woman who doesn’t exactly believe in reading the Bible, told me that earlier that day, in her fear, had opened the Bible and coincidentally, she had stumbled upon Isaiah 43 which said – “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
As for me, I watched my Lord work as He used a pet cat, one I don’t even care much about, one that absolutely loathes me, to restore my sense of wonder – to cause me to be in awe of who He is all over again.
I wept bitterly, oh yes I did; in a way that I hadn’t for a long time. I fell to my knees – aware that I wasn’t worthy of witnessing what He had done, but He let me witness it anyway; and I thanked Him.
So here I am, writing this little testimony (if you call it that). You may read it and go, “Lol, a testimony about a cat. Seriously? That’s just plainsad” or on some level, you may understand what I’m talking about – you may look at a part of it and realize that you’re going through a similar situation right now – you’re somewhere out there, reading this blog and deep down in your heart, you’re looking for a coincidence – a sign that Jesus is working in your life. And if that is you, I am here, praying and rooting for you as I write this.
Why? Because I for one, do not believe this is a coincidence
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” -Romans 8:28