A fable is told of a mouse who saw the farmer and his wife opening a package. The mouse was devastated to discover that inside was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse warned: "There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The pig said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Rest assured you are in my prayers."

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse, I'm sorry for you, but it's sure no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night, a sound was heard of the mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed in to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well. In fact, she died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

Clearly, the needs of the mouse had not concerned the chicken, the pig, or the cow. But their lack of concern ultimately proved fatal to their own lives.
This little fable illustrates that when we are attentive to cries of distress and are helpful to those in need, we are actually helping ourselves. God expects His people to be involved in each other's lives with loving compassion, as taught in scripture:

"Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others" (Phil. 2:4, NKJV). "But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 Jn. 3:17). Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard" (Prov. 21:13). "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days" (Ecc. 11:1).

So the next time you hear someone is facing a distress and you think it doesn't concern you, remember that when any one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. A mousetrap set for someone else could snap on you.

You have heard such expressions as: "What goes around, comes around" and "One day the shoe may be on the other foot." Jesus said, "Give and it will be given to you" (Lk. 6:38). Paul said that you reap what you sow (Gal. 6:7). The giver today may be the receiver tomorrow-of good or of evil. So always be attentive to the cries of others and help to provide for those in distress! In so doing, you'll be helping not only them-but yourself also!