Bats in the Attic

It was a pleasant August morning as I stepped onto my front porch to fetch the paper.  As I stood for a moment, soaking in the fresh air and sunrise, I noticed birds swooping around my yard.  Lots of them!  I heard that “small quiet Voice” say “Go stand in your driveway and look at the end of your house.”  I did. 

There I was, with newspaper in hand, standing in the driveway -- startled at the realization that a colony of bats was swarming into the eaves of our home!

Yuck!  Not a happy thought!

Needless to say – I headed to wake my husband, Tommy, and tell him the news.  Then I was off to the internet to discover someone in our area who could be my “Batman” and come remove these creatures from my attic.

 

After some investigation, Tommy called a company in Greensboro to come to our rescue.  But in the meantime…I was praying! 

“Lord, I know You made bats for a purpose – but I don’t want them in my attic.  Please – move these bats!”

And you know what – by the time the Animal Control folks arrived – the bats were gone.

Of course – they left some mess behind.  And they also left me with another spiritual analogy.

Just like those bats found a small way into my attic – so thoughts from enemy of our souls swarm around us – looking for an entry point into our minds and hearts.

It doesn’t have to be big.  “Small” works just fine for the spoiler.  Small lies.  Small dissatisfactions.  Small complaints.  You know how it goes…a small “white lie” to cover your own errors and still look good.  Just a little gossip…a little grumbling.  “Just this once”…

Before we know it…small becomes BIG.  Big becomes BIGGER.  “Just this once” becomes an addiction. And the bats in our attic have become a huge problem because we did not stand still, hear that small voice and watch for the enemy’s attempt to enter.

When our Animal Control folks arrived – they had a great process they followed.

·         They took a good hard look at our house and determined where the bats were entering and looked for other places they might get in.

·         Then they did repair work.

·         They put up protective barriers over the vents in our eaves to keep more bats from entering.

·         They cleaned up the mess left behind by the bats.

It’s a similar spiritual process for us, isn’t it?

·         We need to look hard at our thought life. 
Where are the entry points for the enemy?  Is it TV?  The internet?  Is it the movies we watch or what we read? Maybe even the crowd we hang out with?

Jesus warned us like this…"And if your hand--even your stronger hand--causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." - Matthew 5:30 NLT

Ephesians 4:27 says it too- “do not give the devil a foothold."

What do I need to “cut off and throw away”?

·         We need repair work!
Over and over again, we find in the book of Kings and Chronicles where the Israel’s enemies attacked their cities and the temple would need repair.

In Ezra 9:9 we see the prophetic picture of how God helps with repairs!  
"Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem."

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" - 1 Corinthians 3:16

·         We need protective barriers.
I need them over my mind, my thought life, my emotional and spiritual attitudes.

God Himself gives me HIS own armor…
"He (the LORD)  put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion."
Isaiah 59:17 NLT

"Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:17 NLT

"But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation."
1 Thessalonians 5:8 NLT

·         We need a heavenly clean-up crew!

The attic of my mind needs regular cleaning!  In fact – it’s more like Romans says – my thinking needs “transforming”!

 

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." - Romans 12:2 NLT

The really good part is – Jesus is always ready and willing to clean me up.
"Jesus reached out his hand and said --"I am willing…Be clean!" - Luke 5:13 NIV

 

Now the bats are gone…the entry points blocked…the clean up done…and I am thankful for “Batman” and his side-kick.  And I am thankful for another spiritual reminder- even if it was inspired by an attic full of bats!

 

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV