{"id":40769,"date":"2016-03-01T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/"},"modified":"2016-03-01T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T11:00:00","slug":"angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/","title":{"rendered":"An Angry Mountain Lion Resists His Rescuers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When a wild mountain lion was found mistakenly caught in a bobcat trap in Utah, wildlife officials were faced with a tricky problem. Mountain lions are fierce, aggressive creatures&mdash;and this was a big one. Video footage shows the authorities struggling to calm the growling cat, which naturally was unable to comprehend their friendly intentions. Eventually, after several minutes of careful and courageous work, the officials were able to free the mountain lion, which dashed off with minor wounds on its paw.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\"><em><strong>Possible Preaching Angle:<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n<p><em>C.S. Lewis compares God&#39;s relationship to mankind in a similar way. &quot;Suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good,&quot; he writes in A Grief Observed. &quot;The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more inexorably he will go on cutting.&quot; We cannot always understand the pain in our lives, but we can always trust that there is One who is working good through it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\"> <\/h2>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[407,411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3794,4546,4584,4748,4811,4812,5103,5196],"tax_ctp_topics":[395,397],"class_list":["post-40769","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-news-that-illustrates","tax_ctp_tags-pain","tax_ctp_tags-purpose","tax_ctp_tags-resistance","tax_ctp_tags-resisting","tax_ctp_tags-suffering","tax_ctp_tags-trusting-god"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An Angry Mountain Lion Resists His Rescuers - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Angry Mountain Lion Resists His Rescuers - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When a wild mountain lion was found mistakenly caught in a bobcat trap in Utah, wildlife officials were faced with a tricky problem. Mountain lions are fierce, aggressive creatures&mdash;and this was a big one. Video footage shows the authorities struggling to calm the growling cat, which naturally was unable to comprehend their friendly intentions. Eventually, Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/\",\"name\":\"An Angry Mountain Lion Resists His Rescuers - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-01T11:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-01T11:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Angry Mountain Lion Resists His Rescuers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Angry Mountain Lion Resists His Rescuers - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/angry-mountain-lion-resists-his-rescuers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Angry Mountain Lion Resists His Rescuers - CT Pastors","og_description":"When a wild mountain lion was found mistakenly caught in a bobcat trap in Utah, wildlife officials were faced with a tricky problem. 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