Squirrels and Bitterness.

Squirrels can be cute and fun to watch. However, they can be unintentionally destructive. Carol reminds us not to store away our bitterness like squirrels with pine cones.

The Antics of Squirrels

Watching animals can be a lot of fun. I enjoy the antics of squirrels, maybe because where I live, we do not see them all the time. I remember visiting family in Southern Ontario at different times in my life or when I went camping at the lake.

Have you ever watched squirrels hide their stash of nuts and seeds? They might look cute but they can cause a lot of damage and frustration. I learned the hard way that squirrels have a sweet tooth. After making sticky banana boats over the campfire one evening, we forgot to put all the spoons to wash. The next morning the squirrel licked chocolate off the spoon.

Another time, we moved all our belongings into an old mobile home while waiting for our teacherage to be finished. I opened the trailer door on moving day to see something scurry into the mess of boxes. I backed up and peered cautiously around the corner. It had been too big to be a mouse and I feared a rat until I noticed a big, bushy tail. When I unpacked a box with a plastic container of cocoa powder, I realized the squirrel had chewed right through to get the treat. Destructive behaviour. 

Squirrels and Pine Cones

Years later, my dad’s car sat under evergreen trees in his condo parking lot. For six weeks, it never moved while he visited my brother in B.C. When he returned, one of his neighbours told him not to start his car before he looked under the hood since the squirrels had been busy with pine cones while he had been gone.

He popped open the hood to find it full of pine cones. In every nook and cranny more cones hid. He took boxes and boxes out of the engine compartment and then a few more would surface. The neighbour snapped a couple of photos to prove how full the squirrel had packed his car with a winter stash.

Worries and Bitterness

This made me think about how often we push things deep inside, whether it is worries or bitterness. Bitter people often have a stash of negatives to bring out and show you. They seem to be in every crevice and thought of their lives. Some try hard not to let those angry or bitter feelings pop out of hiding—at least around certain people. But that is like trying to keep a beach ball under water.

The ancient root word of bitterness is bite. If you have ever dealt with a bitter person, it feels like they are biting at you and everyone else around. They bring out their stash of prickly pine cones and fling them about, hurting all who are hit with the missiles. Then they gather them up and stash them away again until they choose to show them off. Destructive behaviour has become part of the puzzle pieces of their lives.

Let God Clean Things Out

My dad could spend the hours needed to clean out the car’s engine compartment and make it driveable. The car could once again do the job it was intended for. Yet bitterness and pain shoved deep inside takes God to clean it out and heal the heart and turn destructive behaviours into positive ones.

In Hebrews 12: 14, 15

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy, without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

I think back on how the squirrel ruined my container of chocolate powder or on the photos of the squirrel’s stash in my dad’s car and can chuckle about it. No real harm had been done because I could get another container and my dad checked before trying to start the engine. But bitterness chokes the life out of the person who stuffs everything down and allows the root to take hold and grow. Then they lash out with the barbs and negativity, disrupting the peace of all who come in contact with them.

May we allow God to clean out whatever we have squirreled away in our hearts, change our destructive behaviours, and help us live at peace with others, ourselves, and most of all God.

Are you hanging on to a bitter memory? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.