Over the winter months, have you noticed the disappearance of some of the animals you used to see on a regular basis? Have you recently noticed that some of those animals are slowly reappearing? May we be reminded that these animals are coming out of their winter sleep, better known as hibernation. If you have recently seen a snake or two, do not panic, for they are now hungry and looking for insects, mice, etc. There is no need to pack up and start looking for a new home. With all probability, the snakes will be around your new home as well. May I suggest you purchase a bag of sulfur and scatter it around the entire perimeter of your home. Be sure it is sulfur used for snakes and not fertilizer.

If you see some fresh diggings in your yard or around your basement, you may have ground hogs. If you do, get rid of them as soon as you possibly can, for they can do extensive damage to your home or whatever building near-by. You may need to set some traps or get some experts to come in and take care of them for you.

Now that the temperature is warmer, field mice are beginning to surface and may be trying to find food in your home. If you have a garage, scatter some mouse bait or set some of the old-fashioned mouse traps. It may sound a little gross, but live with the mice or get rid of them.   

Usually when we think about hibernation, we think about bears. There have been sightings of bears in Maryland and periodically in Prince George’s County. My advice to you if you see a bear is to RUNNNN! However, Bear Safety suggest that you do not run, and if the bear follows, stop and hold your ground. Help me Holy ghost!  Don’t approach a bear, just quietly move away and leave the area. If one does approach you, make loud noises, clap your hands, make yourself look big and continue to back away according to Jaime Sajecki, Black Bear Project Leader Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. It will be difficult not to run, but for your own safety it is best (Pray).  These hibernators will sleep pretty much throughout the entire winter without waking up, but mother bears will wake up in January and February to give birth to cubs.  

Other animals in our area that may be coming out of hibernation are bats, turtles, frogs, bumblebees and skunks. The reason you may have smelled a skunk during winter may be because they do not go into a deep sleep.

Over the last two years, it has felt as if we were in a deep sleep, and we are now waking up. Things were somewhat stagnant and dormant during the pandemic, but now we, like the animals that have been hibernating, are ready to start anew and refreshed. Hopefully, like the animals that are now looking for food and nurturing, we too will awake from this pandemic seeking something sovereign, Jesus Christ. The pandemic has given us reason to believe that God is not pleased with his people.

The Apostle Paul says that “the word of God is alive and never dead and dormant! It was alive in the beginning. It is alive today! And it will be alive forever” (Isaiah 40:8). We are admonished to seek and embrace God’s word like never before. All that is going on in the world today, we must continue believing that through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we will overcome and order will be restored.

May we embrace Hebrews 4:12: “The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart.”       

I paraphrase the words of Veronika West, “the shut-ins and lockdowns we have experienced have been a time of Spiritual Ascension for many. God has been pruning, preparing and empowering His Sons and Daughters for Divine Acceleration in this new season.”

May we too come out of this Spiritual Hibernation with greater ascension, wisdom, insight, strength, courage and sovereignty.  

Not a sermon, just my thoughts!

Robert Earl Slade, Pastor