Our family lives out in the country on forty acres. We have had a few dogs, and we even took care of some horses for a time, but we just aren’t the pet kind of people. Don’t get me wrong; we love animals. My wife and I took our kids to four different zoos this past summer. I just prefer to visit the messy, smelly creatures rather than bring them into my home. We have a fish, and four kids…therefore we have enough messes as it is.
Moriah our oldest daughter just had a party for her sixth birthday. You’ll never guess what her favorite gift was. It was a Hermit Crab! The poor little thing does not seem to like people. If it senses any movement around it, immediately the crab pulls up into his shell, and the shell falls into the sand. Since it rarely comes out, when it does, the whole family gathers around to analyze its every move. We had no idea where to begin in the caring process for such a creature! After a little research we learned that hermit crabs aren’t really the “hermits” they have a reputation of being. They are actually very social creatures that prefer to be in large colonies so that they can swap shells. They only pull in when they feel threatened or insecure about their surroundings.
As I read about our odd little guest, my mind wandered to the nickname, “hermit,” we give to people that appear to be antisocial. Is it possible that the people who act that way really do enjoy companionship, but they avoid situations that leave them feeling that they could get hurt? Have you been guilty of overanalyzing some person you know that tends to be more quiet by nature? Ask the Lord to help you be a friend to someone who may never have the courage to make friends on his own. Be the kind of friend that protects the sensitive from getting hurt.
Proverbs 6:3 says, “Do this now, my son, deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.”
