Lest you grow weary of my "ant saga" (as opposed to Aunt Sadie) my plan is that this will be the last meditation and musing on said insect subject. . .
Yesterday I entered the kitchen with a dear friend to get coffee, only to be greeted by yet another group (insert marauding horde, if you will) of the little creatures, coming from seemingly nowhere. My friend is so faithful; she joined me in trying to discern from where they were coming! We soon discovered that they are, in fact, coming from an inside wall, so there must be a colony under the house. That means my annihilation tactic must change from "instant kill" to "take back to the colony and die there. . ."
We got our coffee and sat down to laugh together at what God has taught us through these "little interruptions" in our lives (she has battled lice) and how we can "take" the big stuff with little faith or trust problems, but ants and lice? Not so much. How humbling; thank You, God, for bringing in ants to show me how I really do struggle with Your control and sovereignty over my life. I want that icky part out of me!
Then I remembered two email stories I had received from dear missionary friends of mine; my Asia-living friend has been battling with roaches in her domicile, and they have had the nerve to hide underneath the toilet seat! Picture her wildly smashing the toilet bowl and floor with a toilet brush, and you get the idea. She told me, "I had to surrender to God the right to privacy in the bathroom. . ." The next day my dear South America-living friend wrote me. "After 26 years in Brazil, we finally have a snake story!" Suffice it to say, it involved a rather large anaconda in a small boat, stunned but not dead, dead monkeys on a stick for travel, said snake "waking up" and snake blood all over my friend's leg. . .you can imagine.
I sent the "snake story" to the roach battler; she responded with "thank you, Father, for roaches!" I read the snake and roach stories to the lice battler, who promptly decided that lice weren't nearly as bad as holding dead monkeys while avoiding an anaconda in an unsteady boat in probably pirahna and alligator-infested water! And I counseled myself, "self, odorous house ants are harmless; they don't live in my hair or anyone else's; they have not yet discovered my toilet seat; they aren't 12 feet long with the ability to eat me at will. What in the world am I complaining about??!!"
"I can do all things through Him [Christ] who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13 ESV)
Even continue on in my quest to rid my house of ants.
Even learn to allow God to interrupt my life with whatever He chooses.
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