Quiet nudging

By Jessica Brodie

My cat, Teetee, was the runt of the litter, but you wouldn’t know it to look at her. Teetee is a giant, overweight calico who spent her life trying to overcompensate for her meager beginnings and now, like Garfield, seems to embrace relaxation as a lifestyle. And we don’t even feed her table scraps—just the standard scoop of dry food in the morning and evening. It’s just her nature. Why walk when she can saunter? Why run when she can sleep?

She drinks from her water bowl lying down. I’m not joking.

But when it comes to feeding, she lets you know when you’re late. She’ll scratch at our door beginning at 5 or 6 a.m. sometimes, or meow plaintively. If you’re lucky enough to get her to sleep in your bed, she’ll kindly scoot her massive kitty body so it’s on your head, or gently sink a claw into the inside of your elbow to nudge you.

“Remember me? It’s time! Hello. … Um, food? In my bowl? Now, if you please.”

We never forget to feed TeeTee.

And yet it took me awhile to get into the daily practice of feeding my soul with the Word of God. Over the years I read the Bible here and there, but it wasn’t a daily habit. If I was busy or not feeling well or just not in the right mood at the moment, I’d shift it to “later,” which became “never.” I didn’t recognize God’s nudging like I do my cat’s. It wasn’t clamoring loudly and obnoxiously for attention, so it got pushed to the backburner.

And yet in the background I kept hearing God whisper here and there: Aren’t you curious about why others are so hungry for My Word? Don’t you think My guidance would help you in this situation? Why don’t you just try it?

Finally I made the conscious decision to do just that; I made reading Scripture a daily discipline. And I’ve been surprised beyond my wildest dreams how it’s changed me in so many complex and beautiful ways. It’s a foundation I can draw on to guide my day, keep me in line, remind me what obedience looks like.

Reading the Bible doesn’t make me a Christian; I was one before I ever picked up a Bible. But it does make me a better Christian because it shows me what to do to be Christ’s hands and feet, tells me what I need to remember when faced with temptation, teaches me that it’s good and right to cling to God alone when I’m scared or sad.

God doesn’t meow like my cat. But He’s still nudging us daily—all day long. What is He nudging in you?