What I Learned From Flies
Yesterday evening, I set out for a walk while it was still sprinkling. It was unusually hot as evidenced by the way steam hung near the road, and I was glad to be walking in the thick, familiar haze. If I closed my eyes, I could have convinced myself it was a humid summer morning at Overton Park (my Memphis park, which I miss dearly).
There was something unsavory about my walk, though…the flies.
Circling my head, getting stuck in my hair, and generally just making me angry. I swatted at them, I ran from them, and I even tried to pray them away - the ultimate mark of piety (kidding). Unless I was swatting constantly - I'm talking non-stop, flailing, wild-woman, arms-only gymnastics - they would land on my head once again. So smug and unbothered. Running didn’t work because flies are faster than me and just chased me down. Even after, out of desperation and annoyance, I begged God to remove the flies, they still reappeared.
And that’s when it hit me, and I let loose an exasperated giggle. I asked, “Really, God? You want me to write about flies?”
Yep.
So here we are.
These persistent, nasty things are like our problems, like our addictions or fears or unhealthy coping mechanisms. Quite literally the second I stopped trying to swat them away, they swooped in for another unauthorized landing, and the only thing I could do was react (which wasn’t pretty or graceful, let me tell you).
In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter writes, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Okay, so flies aren’t exactly predators, but they are pesky, persistent beings, and they will take every opportunity to return again and again if we don’t put up a fight. The enemy does that, too, so we have to be alert in our spirits, hearts, and minds. We have to be watchful, pray, know God’s word, and clothe ourselves in Jesus (Matthew 26:41, Romans 13:14).
God has been gracious enough to give us the tools to fight rather than forcing us to live in a state of constant reaction. Through His power and relationship with us, He provides strength, wisdom, courage, discernment, and a whole bunch of other awesome things that we can use to gain an advantage against our problems and sin patterns. This helps us avoid bumbling through life a woman smacking herself in the head over and over again because she feels a fly land in her hair (it's me).
We are all human. We will all have moments where we need to be reactive in a circumstance we could have prevented, and that is okay as long as we learn from it, so next time we can plan ahead and pray before that problem surfaces. I’m choosing to be proactive instead of reactive. I’m praying about the things I know I struggle with before they actually become issues. I’m sitting down to find examples of how to speak life and truth in the Bible, and I will use those to speak to my circumstances.
And also, I will put on bug spray before I go on my next walk.
What about you?
