Mice and Custard

     -an epic tale of a mouse and a (relatively speaking) oversized biscuit

 

   Its one of those family stories which, over the many retellings and spin-offs, has achieved legendary status amongst your relatives- up there with King Arthur and the Knights of the round table, Robin Hood, Big Foot and Thor.

    Its a story which only gets better with the retelling- somehow becoming more epic, more gripping, more dramatic and more real with each rendition.

   To an uninitiated outsider it is meaningless, un-epic, and frankly, a tad boring. However to my clan it is the bread and butter (so to speak) of dinner-time conversation.  

   I’d better tell you.

 

  Mice and Custard, and Epic tale of a mouse and a (relatively speaking) oversized biscuit-

     I was still in nappies and sleeping in a cot when this epic tale begins. We were living in a temporary abode - more of a shack, to be honest- and the conditions were basic. The small bungalow, number 64, had seen much, much better days. The current owners have refurbished the building and little remains of the shell we occupied those 20 years ago.

    On good days, the roof leaked. On bad days…… well, you get the idea. If any unwanted visitors were to ‘visit’ then we would graciously give them the most comfortable armchair (directly beneath the leak!)

    Wherever you went in the house you could expect company. Mice would play beneath the dining table, dance in the bath and work in the bedrooms. An entire battalion of the beasts were there with us. And the audacity  of them too! They knew that we were powerless to prevent their frolics! They flaunted their freedom in front of us, without any shame!  One morning my mother awoke to discover half of her supper, on the bedside cabinet, had been whisked away during the night!

   It was with great joy and delight, therefore, that my parents awoke one morning to discover the plight of the audacious and greedy mice! A semi-circular hole, or door, was situated in the skirting board in one room. It was from here that  the mice would rally forth to intimidate and pillage. However this particular night’s raid had ended badly! The mice, after an especially good haul had returned to their hole dragging their loot behind them. Unfortunately one mouse – with eyes bigger than his belly- had failed  to judge  the exact size of the door. He had, to our amusement, attempted to drag an entire custard cream into his storehouse. In his haste, he had succeeded in jamming the  confectionary right across the doorway leaving him and his mates stuck inside their own hole!

    It was some days before we eventually saw our mice reappear- this time looking a bit greener and sickly. They never touched custard creams again after that!**

 

     Can we learn anything from this epic tale? Probably. I firmly believe, as did Jonathan Edwards, C.S. Lewis and many others, that nature around us is wired so as to teach us as much as possible. Of course, we must take these lessons with a pinch of salt; after all, nature has suffered from the fall, just as mankind has.

    The obvious lesson to draw from our mice is the one which mothers are teaching their children at this very moment: if your eyes are bigger than your belly then you will get a stomach ache. Or, as the bible puts it, ‘be sure your sin will find you out.’

   Greed- the desire for more, more, more- is a sin which can creep up on us unexpected. It is essentially covetousness and idolatry, faithlessness and adultery all rolled into one. We pin our expectations or desires onto something other than God, we yearn for something God has not given us. Therefore we place that object above God, we reject what God has given us for that which he, in his infinite wisdom, hasn’t given us. 

   But perhaps you think I am exaggerating.

  Stop and consider.

   Is it really an overreaction to describe ‘a little greed’ as adultery towards God?

   It isn’t, is it? Greed is trusting our own fickle fancies over God’s eternal and omnipotent wisdom. That is sin. That is idolatry.

   Sure, a mouse probably cannot be blamed for its greedy theft of a custard cream; but that doesn’t excuse the sin which it highlights in you and me.

   Proverbs says:

   A greedy man stirs up strife,
        but the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched.
(Proverbs 28:25 ESV)

   1 Timothy says:

    But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
(1 Timothy 6:6-10 ESV)

    That is something which we need to remember daily- hourly even.

   But how do you actually stay content when surrounded with all the temptations and goodies which are thrown our way?

   But the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched. That is the answer. Only the Lord brings true contentedness. We are complete in Jesus Christ. Because he has died for us, we can live for him! All the ‘acceptance’ or ‘fulfilment’ we yearn for, and all the possessions we may need have been achieved in Jesus Christ! It  may take time to accept that truth, and it would take more than a lifetime to understand it. But it is true. Tullian Tchividjian, an American pastor explains it better than I could:

 

“Because Jesus was strong for me, I am free to be weak;

Because Jesus won for me, I am free to lose;

Because Jesus was Someone, I am free to be no one;

Because Jesus was extraordinary, I am free to be ordinary;

Because Jesus succeeded for me, I am free to fail.

This is beginning to define my life in brand new, bright, and liberating ways. I believe God wants this liberating truth to define your life as well…and the life of the church corporately. Because I’m telling you right now, when you begin to understand that everything you need and long for, in Christ you already possess—it enables you to live a life of scandalous freedom, unrestrained fearlessness, and unbounded courage. When you don’t have anything to lose, you discover something wonderful: you’re free! Nothing in this broken world can beat a man who isn’t afraid to lose! And when you’re not afraid to lose you can say crazy, counterintuitive stuff like, “To live is Christ and to die is gain!” That’s pure, unadulterated freedom.”

 

     A mouse eating a custard cream.

    Amazing how God can use a simple illustration in nature to remind us of our desperate need of the Lord Jesus.

 

 

** You probably had to be there!