During the COVID lock-down, I had signed up with a company that sold drop-ship websites. For the bargain price of $5000.00 they would build a website, including all the products, that would make a decent income for me. They implied many things, none of which were spelled out in the contract, but being the honest and trusting person that I have been, I believed what they had told me.
They gave me a timeframe of when the website would be ready, and when it wasn’t, I called to find out what was going on. We went round and round, with one disappointing phone call after another.
Then, something strange started happening. I started seeing something. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw only the black silhouette of a rat. You know, when you see something out of the corner of your eye, you turn to take a good look to make certain of what you think you saw.
I had never seen rats in our neighborhood, but we did have squirrels. Squirrels may be cute, but they are rodents. I would often see a squirrel run along the chain link fence between my house and the house next door or climbing trees or running through the branches or along telephone lines. Nevertheless, this is not what I saw.
The first time this happened, I saw a rat running along that fence. I turned to make sure of what I was seeing. Sure enough, it was a squirrel.
Because of the COVID lock-down, people were either laid off or working at home. Just to break up the monotony of being home, people often went outside taking their kids or dogs for walks. That afternoon, as I walked through the living room, I saw the silhouette of a rat out my front window. This time the rat was a golden lab on the end of the leash of his owner.
The next day I saw a large rat through the kitchen window, but of course it was Maxine, the large black mutt that lived next door.
Finally, I was sitting on my bed working on my computer while I was watching the television mounted on the wall next to a window. The drapes were pulled to one side of the window to let the sunshine in. From time to time, I would look up at the TV and then back down to my computer and then back again.
At some point, as I pivoted my head up and down, I saw it the black silhouette of a rat at the top of the window. I looked up. Of course, there was no rat, but I could see how the folds in the fabric of the drape that had been pulled across the window made a shadow that created the vague shape of a rat.
I thought I was going crazy. This was just too many coincidences. So, I looked up the spiritual meaning of rats. Poverty, misfortune, and bad luck among other things.
As much as I wanted this website to be an answer to my COVID income issues, I decided that these signs were a warning for me to get out of business with these website people.
I won’t go through the drama of how I got out of that ordeal, mostly because I’ve purposed to forget it. But suffice it to say, the process of getting out confirmed to me that the people in this company acted very much like rats.
The Lord speaks to each of us in a variety of ways. We just need to make it a habit of paying attention to everything that happens to us.
For instance, if I stub my toe two or three times in a day, I have to suspect that there is something going on in the spirit realm. One time is an “accident.” Twice is suspicious. Three times is more than coincidence and I start to pray. I command any demonic activity causing these things, plead the Blood and the Name of Jesus, ask the Father to forgive me of any sin opening the door to this activity and ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse me and to drive away the demons.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly. ~John 10:10
The enemy likes to steal our peace, kill our hope, and destroy our lives, one little bit at a time. These little bits often go unnoticed. We may consider ourselves accident prone, but often it can be more than just a personality trait.
When we begin to become aware of the enemy’s schemes and tactics that he likes to use in our lives, we can stop him in his tracks by commanding him to stop. Then, we must decide not to allow him to continue his attacks from now on. If this trait has been a long-time characteristic, the enemy won’t give up easily. The next time it happens, we must command him to leave again. And again. And again. As many times as it takes for him to stop his shenanigans. When we can stop him a little bit at a time, we begin to live life a little more abundantly at a time.
