When I was young, a bee stung my finger while I was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My mom later told me that I nearly caught the bee in my mouth.
Regardless, long after the pain and tears of that sting, I maintained an exaggerated fear of bees. When I saw a bee, I would bolt and run as fast as possible. My 3rd grade colleagues once witnessed my bee-avoiding skills during a P.E. kickball game. I never made it to first.
It's taken me quite a while to get over the fear of bees, but the old wisdom remains true: "If you don't panic, the bee won't either." Now when a bee comes near, I have learned to be quite calm. It's fine. The bee is curious. It'll leave, or you'll figure out what to do when the bee decides otherwise, is what I coach myself about in those moments.
But let me tell you how God fits into the picture. My reading for this morning was in Isaiah 7. Ahaz is the King in Jerusalem at the time, and he learns that Judah and Ephraim are against him. King Ahaz panics, but the prophet Isaiah reminds him in verse 4, "Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood..." and then concludes in verse 9, "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all."
This for me was a huge reminder of how we are to trust God in a way that ties in well with the bee lesson. When the "bees of life" come swarming--not even necessarily threatening to sting, but simply in the area out of curiosity perhaps--we are reminded not to panic, not to be afraid, to trust God and keep our eyes on Him. It's in the moments when we flinch--if even just for a moment--that we do foolish things, flail our arms, and get "stung."
God is saying "Don't flinch. You're okay."
More to come!
Jason <><
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