Unwanted Visitors in Life

June 25, 2013 by Susan Shay 5 Comments

Do you have bats in your life? No, I’m not asking if you are bats. (I don’t really want to know. Snicker.)

I’m wondering if you have things in your life you’d just as soon not have hanging around. Things you aren’t real proud of that scare, surprise or even shock you.

If you do, how do you respond to them?

This bat died of old age. We didn’t hurt him.

We have REAL bats at my office. You know, those little rats with wings? Yes, bats are good for the environment, they eat bugs, but they aren’t really great in the work place, if you get my drift.

Bat crawling in the hallway.

We have some people at our office who panic when one crawls into their sight. If the little mammal is crawling up the hall (yes, that’s unnerving!) and these women are fifteen feet away at their desks, they’ll close their doors and block all the cracks and openings until the little bugger is gone. (I’m not sure if they’re covering their necks or not.)

If others of us pick up a paper towel or move a chair, and there’s a bat hiding there, we SHRIEK!  drop whatever we moved and run for the hills. (Notice, I’m not naming any names here–especially mine!)

Bat toes under a paper towel.

Someone in the office (not me) will calmly get a paper towel, gently pick the little guys up and take them away.

We’ve tried several ways to get rid of them. A year or two ago, we had someone come and close up any tiny hole they might get into. (Last year we only had one bat that I can think of.) But with the heat and lack of rain, the hole filler must have shrunk and we’ve got unwanted visitors again.

We’ve talked to pest control people, but they aren’t the answer. We haven’t found live bat traps.

Bat hanging around.

So yesterday I went to the feed store and bought something that G-Man and I used to get rid of squirrels in his dad’s attic. It smells really bad, so the critters are supposed to leave. (Worked on squirrels.)

I put the stuff out–but it really does smell. And since people work in the office and they don’t like the smell any better than bats do, it might not be a long term answer. But if we can get the bats to leave, we can close up those holes again. Maybe permanently.

Sometime last night, I got to thinking about bats at the office and sins in our lives. Did you ever have anything that you thought you’d gotten rid of only to have it come crawling back up the hall of your mind again?

Or have you ever been rocking along, doing pretty well when you move something and (shriek!) there’s that sin! Again!!!

I’m not telling you how to fix it (Gotta take care of my beam before I can help with your splinter.) but I know the Man Who can get rid of them.

Give your bats (your sins) to Him (after all, He already paid for them) then close up the holes and stay close up to Him. It’s the only way to be batless. 🙂

So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet. — James 7-10 The Message