Give All Your Worries To God

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you."

1 Peter 5:7

When Matthew entered grade eight, we had just moved. He was initially very excited about the move. We had previously lived in a small town, but now we were living in a moderate-size city with more opportunities. However, in the small town where we used to live, he left behind his two best friends. Now, he had to make new friends and adjust to a new area. This proved to be very difficult for him because he was bullied in High School right from the start. This was the first time as a mother I experienced any of my children being bullied.

I was worried for him and every day after school we would go for long walks, so he could have a chance to talk to me privately about it. Then one day we were visiting a pet store. As I was being delightfully entertained by the cute bunnies, guinea pigs and hamsters, I noticed Matthew had disappeared. When I looked around, I saw him gazing at rats — yes, rats! Being somewhat a normal female and concerned about Matthew's new fixation, I went up to him, glanced disgustingly at the rats and told him that it was time to go. That's when it happened! He asked me if he could have a pet rat. I shook my head and emphatically said, "No!" Then he gave me that look. I felt my willpower weakening. I thought about the hard time he was having at school and gave in to his request. A few minutes later, we were walking out of the pet store with a cage, food, toys and a white and tan female rat. I felt very anxious and queasy, but Matthew was on cloud nine.

For a whole year, Matthew and that rat were inseparable. He would take the rat with us even on our walks by putting her in his pocket. The little rat's head would peak out of his pocket, seemingly enjoying the daily outing.

Matthew is also an avid reader, and when he would lay in bed at night to read, the rat would sit on his shoulder, watching the pages being flipped. It was like she was reading the words herself. To be honest that wouldn't surprise me. The rat was really smart!

Then a year later, the rat developed a cancerous tumour on one side of her head. It grew quickly, became so large that the rat was no longer able to walk. She was too unbalanced and blind in the one eye. Matthew was devastated! I felt terrible!

When the rat stopped eating, we knew that she would soon be dead. Matthew left for school forlorn and downcast.

That morning as I was sitting on the couch, I prayed to God for Matthew. I also questioned God. "Why would You let Matthew's rat die when he was struggling so hard in school?" That's when God spoke to me, "Lay hands on the rat and pray for Me to heal it." My first reaction was, "You gotta be kidding! You want me to lay hands on the rat?" As I continued to sit there for a while, I started to think more about Matthew and less of myself. I changed my attitude and decided to do it. I was thankful that nobody was around to see me. I went to the rat's cage, opened the door, laid one finger on it and prayed in a loud commanding voice, "In the Name of Jesus, be healed!" I figured that might help, since I didn't really have much faith that God would actually heal a rat! I thought maybe God was testing me or something. Anyways, nothing happened, so I took off, feeling silly and promising myself that I would never tell a living soul what I had just done.

When Matthew came home, he immediately went to see his rat. He then came out of his room with some hope to tell me that it looked to him as if the tumor had shrunk a bit. I went in to see and thought, "Yeah, maybe", but I didn't want Matthew's hopes up, so I didn't make a big deal about it. The next morning, it was evident to both of us that the tumor was indeed shrinking, for it was now half the size! Within a few days, the tumor was completely gone. The rat was now eating and playing as usual. Matthew was thrilled and so was I!

Here is a picture of Matthew at that time with the rat's cage in the background. I had pictures of the rat but lost them when my hard drive died.

If God cares enough to heal a rat, just how much more does God care for each of us! Have faith people! God does care!