I could have easily stepped on him, curled in a small ball at the edge of the sidewalk. I gently touched his back and rubbed his soft tummy. His little paws moved, his eyes opened, and he gave me a big yawn. It was a baby opossum.

This isn’t the first time I’ve found little ones in places they aren’t supposed to be. There was the time puppies were running down the middle of the street. And on another occasion, I found a fawn sleeping in the gap between the staircase, leading down from our patio, and the back wall of our home. But that is a story for another time. So, being the soft-hearted person I am, I picked little opossum up from the sidewalk (I didn’t want someone to accidentally step on him). 

My immediate thought was to take him home and then call a rescue organization. But as I began to walk, I remembered I had a phone! I held the little one in one hand and scrolled the web for shelters that might be open at 6:00 in the morning. I found two. The first number I called, I got a young woman who sounded badly congested. She listened to my story and offered the following: “Leave it where you found it.” When I told her I found it on the sidewalk, she sneezed and placed me on hold. She never came back. I hung up! I called the second number and talked to a lovely-sounding woman. I shared my story again, and again she stated, “Just leave it where it is. We don’t rescue opossums.” Now, before I go any further, no, I don’t have a baby opossum living in my home, although the thought did occur to me. 

My aimless walking brought me back to the location where I found the little guy, and as I was wandering and wondering what to do, I noticed he stretched, took two deep breaths, and then nothing. No stretching, no yawning, just stillness.  It looked like he had passed away! I tried gently shaking him, but there was no response. I watched for his chest to move, rubbed his belly, and gently tugged on his arms and legs, but he just lay there. So, I placed him off the beaten path in a secluded space and said goodbye. My 35-minute encounter with a baby opossum had sadly come to an end.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I can’t leave things undone. So, when I returned home, I researched opossums on a wildlife rescue site, and lo and behold, Rule #1 of opossum rescue is DO NOT LEAVE A DEFENSELESS ANIMAL WHERE YOU FIND THEM! The subsequent instructions were about securing your newly found friend and then calling a rescue. (I clearly had NOT called rescues in my previous attempts!) So, I went back to the place where I had left the little guy. And. He. WAS. GONE! Yep, gone. No sign of the wee little one, no blood indicating a painful demise. I searched the foliage, the sidewalk (since that’s where I originally found him), and the surrounding grass. No opossum. 

In my best optimistic thinking, there are only three logical explanations:

#1 – God brought him back from the dead, and he ran off

#2 – God or someone else rescued him, or

#3 – I was possumed!

There is a fourth, but I choose not to go there because, again, there were no paw prints or signs of demise. 

Trust me, I’ve given this situation a lot of thought and have concluded—I was possumed!

Have you ever encountered or perhaps been tempted to play possum? And just in case you’re not clear on what the term means, Dictionary.com defines it as,

“The phrase ‘playing possum’ originates from the opossum’s defensive behavior of appearing lifeless. It can also be used to describe someone who pretends to be unaware or inactive to avoid a difficult situation.” 

I’ve had possum-thinking times in my life. They arrive when life is complicated, and I have run out of energy to keep pushing forward. My typical response is to disconnect and wait for the season to pass. It can also appear as times of distraction when life gets too hard. Anything to keep me from having to face the real issues.

How about you? Any hiding from the hard stuff? Any avoidance behavior—aimless TV binging, endless surfing the web, or indulging in a little shopping therapy, all to forget the ache. Do you try to sleep through your heartaches? How about pretending the betrayal didn’t happen, the problem will mysteriously disappear, and the lie was just a harmless exaggeration. All possum-thinking.

As I read more about my opossum friend, I learned a few things that might help us move beyond our possum moments.

Unlike the opossum, we need to stay present and attentive in the face of our fears. This may require us to share our thoughts, acknowledge our challenges, and be willing to accept some assistance. It may also lead us to surrender the challenges we face to the only one who fully understands and has the answer. Deuteronomy 31:8 tells us, “Don’t be afraid, for the Lord will go before you and will be with you; he will not fail nor forsake you.” (The Living Bible) We aren’t meant to navigate this life alone, and God is always available.

I think it is also wise to recognize the inherent dangers of playing possum. It may fool some, but it can also invite the kind of attention that could lead us into some pretty disastrous situations. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (NLT) We live in a world filled with many blind spots—subtle ways we can be ensnared and devoured. We must understand our weaknesses and lean on God to help us navigate away from Satan’s attacks. We don’t want to consciously fall asleep and ignore the threats like our opossum friends.

Possum-thinking can happen to all of us. I just hope the next time you fall victim to it, someone picks you up, lovingly holds you tight, and points you to the rescue of our Father.

Be Blessed,