It is a common observation that regardless of what a dog is doing at the moment, when a squirrel enters the picture, the dog's attention is diverted from what it is doing, and it chases after the squirrel. This canine characteristic was included in a 2009 American animated adventure film called Up, where an elderly widower traveling to South America in a house carried by balloons befriends a young "Wilderness Explorer" scout and a talking golden retriever named Dug. Whenever Dug said "Squirrel!," he would immediately stop what he was doing and look around for a squirrel. Since this movie, saying "Squirrel!" has become a catchphrase for something that quickly diverts attention from one thing to something else.

This form of distraction was featured in an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series called Friday's Child (Season 2, Episode 11, 12/1/1967). Captain Kirk was ordered to take the USS Enterprise to Capella IV. There he was to negotiate an agreement between Starfleet and the planet's inhabitants to mine the rare mineral topaline, which was an essential component of life support systems for asteroid colonies.

Leaving Scotty in command of the Enterprise, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and a security officer beamed down to the planet to meet with the leadership. To their unpleasant surprise, they found that a representative from the Klingon Empire was also there to gain exclusive mining rights for the topaline. As a sign of good faith to the Capellans, Kirk and his team had to surrender their weapons and communicators.

On the Enterprise, Scotty is informed of an urgent distress call from a Federation freighter being attacked by a Klingon vessel. Unable to contact the landing party, he decided to leave orbit, render aid to the freighter, and quickly return to Capella IV. Upon reaching the coordinates of the distress call, no debris or any other evidence of the freighter and Klingon ship was found. After completing an intensive search of the area, Scotty and the crew realized that they were given a false distress call to distract and lure them away from Capella IV. As Scotty was about to order a swift return to the planet, another distress call was received from a Federation starship registered to be operating in that sector of space. He chose to ignore it, noting the old proverb, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

On Capella IV, the Klingon representative sought to capitalize on the overthrow of the old leader and installation of a new one, but he was slain in the conflict. In space near the planet, a returning Enterprise was confronted by a Klingon warship attempting to block its path. But with the Klingon representative dead, along with prospects for a mining agreement for the Klingon Empire, and Scotty preparing for a fight to rescue the landing party, the warship stood down and fled the star system, not wanting to start an interstellar conflict. With the unwelcome distractions out of the way, Captain Kirk was able to complete the mission by signing the topaline mining agreement with the new Capellan leader and return to the Enterprise to continue on to the next mission.

The Klingons cried "Squirrel!" to the Enterprise crew to distract them from completing their task and to gain the advantage over them. Fortunately, they caught on to the deception and defeated their efforts to thwart their mission. There are many examples in the Bible where God's people were commissioned to complete a task, but their enemies sought to defeat them with variations of crying "Squirrel!"

In the fifth century BC, Nehemiah was cupbearer to Artaxerxes I (465–424 BC), king of the Persian Empire. This was a high-ranking position of exceptional trust, for it was the cupbearer's task to guard against poison in the king's cup from rivals or assassins, often by swallowing some of the drink before serving it. In such a position, Nehemiah would have also been a confidant of the king, with whom he would have had significant influence.

When Nehemiah learned that the Jews who had returned to Judah were in distress and that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he was deeply saddened and downcast (Nehemiah 1). The king noticed this when he later served the wine and inquired about the cause of his unaccustomed sadness. When Nehemiah told him, the king granted his request to go to Judah as its governor to rebuild Jerusalem, providing the authorization and materials he needed to accomplish this mission.

Several days after arriving at Jerusalem, Nehemiah encouraged the Jewish leaders and people to work with him to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem because of the favor the Lord had shown him and the generosity of the king (Nehemiah 2:11-20). But Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab, regional servants of the king, set themselves against Nehemiah and his mission (Nehemiah 4:6-8). Several times, Sanballat figuratively shouted "Squirrel!" to destroy it.

Sanballat threatened the people with sudden destruction and the end of their work to frighten them into quitting. But Nehemiah encouraged them not to be daunted by him and trust in the Lord. He also set half of the workers to continue work on the wall while the other half kept guard with shields, spears, and swords (Nehemiah 4:9-23).

Next, Sanballat sent several messages to Nehemiah inviting him to meet with him at Chephirim in the plain of Ono. Refusing to be distracted and knowing the harm they intended for him, he responded, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" (Nehemiah 6:3)

Finally, Sanballat threatened to send out false reports that Nehemiah intended with his work to make himself king in Judah. He even paid a false prophet to try to frighten and entrap him so that he would abandon the work on the wall, but his efforts failed (Nehemiah 6:5-14).

Because God was with Nehemiah and the people, they were blessed with courage, wisdom, protection, and strength for their work. Efforts by their enemies to distract them from their godly mission failed, and the wall of Jerusalem was completed within 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15-16).

Those who believe in and follow Jesus Christ are God’s workmanship created to participate in and complete a particular mission He has prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:8-10). If you as a believer in Christ do not know what your task is, ask the Lord in faith, and He will tell you (James 1:5). Satan will use all kinds of tools to distract you. He will even use social media influencers to lead you down rabbit holes, away from prayer and reading God’s word. You should disregard his cries of “Squirrel!” and continue on the mission the Lord has given to you. Trust in Jesus, and He will graciously give you all that you need to complete it.

If you have responded favorably to the gospel message, do not be like the seed that sprouted and grew only to be choked out by thorns (Matthew 13:7, 22; Luke 8:7, 14). Do not be distracted by the cares and pleasures of this world and miss out on fulfilling God's purpose for your life and the eternal rewards that come with it (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

If you have not yet believed in Jesus Christ, do not delay. Tomorrow, or later today, is not guaranteed to you. Do not be distracted into missing out on being forgiven of your sins, being at peace with God, and receiving the gift of eternal life (Hebrews 3:12-19).