Make Room for the Squirrel: Grace in Disruption

Hope and humor meet honest lament, calling weary hearts to make room for disruption rather than deny it. Using the vivid image of sitting at a formal ballet and being handed a live squirrel, the teaching reframes the “unexpected, uninvited, uncomfortable” moments that shattered plans in 2025. Those moments do not disqualify anyone from belonging; they become places where grace does its deepest work. The emphasis is not that “all things are good,” but that God works for good in all things. That distinction protects sufferers from shallow cheer and invites them to trust a God who is not surprised by their story.

The year-end reflection gives permission to acknowledge exhaustion and grief without shame. Grief is not faithlessness; it is human. It should not have the last word, but it must be given space. Losses—of people, marriages, health, hopes, or relationships—are not ignored. They are named, carried, and brought into God’s presence where grace makes room. This is the strange mercy of grace: it does not remove every disruption, but it enlarges the heart to hold it with God.

The call is practical and pastoral: stop waiting for the squirrel to be gone before worshiping, serving, and belonging. Do not postpone intimacy with God until life feels neat. Sit in the disruption and watch for the God who keeps showing up. Church, then, matters as a family where imperfect people carry imperfect stories together and discover compassion, humility, and a deeper imagination for what God can do. The charge moving into 2026: release the pressure to fix, explain, or justify every twist of the story. Trust that what surprised you has not surprised God, that grace is already at work, and that there is room at the table—even with the squirrel in your lap.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Make room for disruptive squirrels Grace doesn’t erase disruption; it makes space within it. When life hands something you never planned for, the invitation is not control but consent—learning to carry what you cannot cancel while trusting God’s presence. That posture enlarges the soul and often becomes the birthplace of compassion for others. Making room is how grace turns chaos into formation. [76:37]
• 2. Grief needs space, not shame Grief is not a failure of faith; it is an honest response to loss. Allowing sorrow to be named keeps the heart from hardening and opens it to God’s comfort. The goal isn’t to rush emotions into “victory,” but to let Christ hold the ache until hope rises again. Grief won’t have the last word, but it must have a voice. [71:22]
• 3. God works good within not-good Romans 8:28 does not call evil “good”; it declares God’s active presence in all things. That distinction protects wounded hearts from denial and invites trust in divine agency amid disorder. The cross teaches that God can bring resurrection from real death, not from make-believe pain. Expect redemption without romanticizing the wound. [73:43]
• 4. Belong before resolution, worship now Don’t wait for the problem to disappear before drawing near to God or community. Faith grows not by escaping tension but by worshiping within it. Church is a place to be “still here” together, even when nothing is tidy. Belonging in the middle breaks the lie that disruption makes you an outsider. [78:47]
• 5. Release the need to explain Not every why will be answered, and that’s okay. Mystery can be a sanctuary where pressure to justify your story is surrendered to the God who already knows. Peace often grows when explanation shrinks and presence expands. Trust that what surprised you never surprised Him. [81:02]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [17:15] - Hands for the Lord story
• [19:13] - Introductions and gratitude
• [55:35] - Did 2025 meet expectations?
• [58:07] - Hidden growth noticed
• [61:21] - Naming our exhaustion
• [62:08] - The ballet and the squirrel
• [66:17] - Disruption reframes everything
• [69:14] - How pain shapes calling
• [71:22] - Permission to grieve
• [73:43] - Romans 8:28, not cliché
• [74:41] - Grace makes room, not escape
• [76:37] - Worship before resolution
• [78:47] - Church as place to belong
• [81:02] - Benediction: make room for squirrels

1. In Romans 8:28, what does God promise to do “in all things”? What common idea does the passage not say (for example, that “all things are good”) ([01:13:43])?
2. Consider the image of being handed a live squirrel at a formal ballet ([01:02:08]). What details in that picture highlight how disruption feels and why normal “rules” no longer fit ([01:06:17])?
3. What specific kinds of losses and disruptions were named (diagnosis, failure after trying hard, betrayal, grief) ([01:09:14])?
4. What was said about grief’s place in the life of faith (that grief is okay, human, and should not be shamed) ([01:11:22])? What was also said about grief not having the last word ([01:12:31])?

1. If God works for good in all things (Romans 8:28), how does that change the instinct to erase or escape disruption? Why might “making room” be wiser than trying to remove it ([01:14:41])?
2. What harm can come from shaming grief or rushing it into a quick “victory”? How could giving grief a voice actually protect the heart and invite God’s comfort ([01:11:22])?
3. How could belonging before resolution guard against isolation? In what ways does worship inside tension (not after it’s gone) grow trust ([01:18:47])?
4. What does releasing the need to explain every “why” reveal about a person’s view of God’s presence and timing ([01:21:02])?

1. Name your “squirrel” right now—the unexpected, uninvited, uncomfortable thing on your lap. What would it look like to make room for it this week instead of trying to hide it or fix it fast ([01:06:17])?
2. Grief needs space, not shame. Where are you grieving (a person, marriage, health, hope, relationship)? What honest step will you take—tell a trusted friend, journal a lament, take a quiet walk with God—so grief has a voice this week ([01:11:22])?
3. Worship before resolution. What is one simple act of worship you will do with the squirrel still present—sing one song at home, attend and stay for prayer, serve someone in need, sit quietly with a psalm? When will you do it ([01:16:37])?
4. Belong in the middle. What concrete step will you take toward community while things are still messy—ask for prayer, share your story in group, join a team, invite someone to coffee ([01:18:47])?
5. Release the pressure to explain. What “why” question will you hand to God this week? What prayer or phrase will you use when the urge to control or justify rises (“You’re not surprised, and You are here”) ([01:21:02])?
6. Let disruption birth compassion. Who could be helped by the very thing that has wounded you? What will you do—write a note, make a call, sit with someone who’s grieving—so your pain becomes a doorway to mercy ([01:09:14])?
7. Notice hidden growth. Where did quiet growth appear in 2025, even if the year didn’t meet expectations ([00:58:07])? What small practice will you carry into 2026 to keep that growth going (a rhythm of prayer, weekly service, a Sabbath hour)?