I may be a little crazy sometimes, and this title does not help my case. However, I write this with God’s inspiration behind it. He is amazing at using the lesser or the weak to get his point across (1 Corinthians 1:27). So, I say to you, God, lesson received, and I get it: it is a humbling experience to be schooled by the one I called my Heavenly Father.
Once upon a time, but not really
This story opens on the drive home from work. My son gets off the bus at a particular time, and my window to receive my gift from God is narrow. To add to that stress, let’s add our favorite summer pastime, construction, to reduce that window to a sliver size.
I turned down a road about 10 minutes from my house, and I noticed that there was a fly in my car. It wasn’t there when I got in and wasn’t flying around until now. So, my instincts to kill went into overdrive, and I started swatting it. I tried to lure this tiny, fragile pest into my trap with my siren’s call. While trying to keep my car on the road, this took skill or just plain insanity; the verdict is still out.
Finally, it landed on the windowsill, so I quickly put the window down and proceeded to bat it out to no avail. The fly would slip past the window seal every time. I tried again and again with no success until the final time when I stopped at a road crossing. The fly acted like it was his stop and flew away.
From crazy to humbled
I felt happy the fly was gone but defeated because I didn’t get to enjoy removing it from my car. An epiphany slapped me across the face, and then I saw what God was illustrating to me. In this moment, all elements are represented. My car was life, the fly was me, and I played the Devil.
The Devil is forever trying to get us off course in life. Aggressively pursuing every avenue to make sure our divine destiny gets derailed. When The fly was going into the crack of the window, it showed me that we must constantly shield ourselves from the Devil’s attacks (Ephesians 6:16) and that our perseverance and endurance will get us to the promised land. The fly was not cowardly but tactical for hiding.
Insert the moral of the story
So, remember the next time you feel the Devil’s swat: Seek refuge in your hiding place, which is God, for he will protect you from the Devil’s attacks (Psalm 32:7).