This little bug looks like something from a horror movie.
I was taking a walk yesterday and I saw a cicada lying dead on the pavement. But, when I stepped over him, I discovered he wasn’t dead as he flew away. I was really startled and chuckled to myself over how scary those bugs actually look.
As a life long Southerner, they have always been a part of my summer time. My sister and I used to delight in pulling their shells off of the pine trees and putting them in our bicycle baskets. They make a bizarre noise that sounds like some kind of an alien invasion.
I have no fear of them because I know from my parents’ teaching and life experience, that they are completely harmless. They don’t sting or bite. But, if I didn’t know that, they would fall into one of my granddaddy’s favorite categories, “they won’t hurt you, but they’ll make you hurt yourself.”
We have a lot of situations in life that fall into that category, though, don’t we?
We walk in fear of everything ranging from getting a scary medical diagnosis to financial issues. So often, our fears are completely without merit. They are a bunch of “what ifs?” not even based on fact.
We also fear trying anything new because we might fail. We fear speaking a dream out loud because we are afraid of sounding dumb to others.
But, the Bible is full of far-fetched crazy sounding schemes that worked because He was behind them. Who would have thought that a hot-headed fisherman named Peter would lead the new church after the Ascension? Peter’s faith grew so strong that his shadow alone, could heal people. Who would have thought that a killer of Christians could preach the Good News to the Gentiles and write the New Testament? Paul did just that.
Who would have thought that a ninety year old woman named Sarah, could give birth to the Nation of Israel?
Fear is not only a dream killer. It’s a faith killer. Fear of failure and ridicule do not come from God. They come from our enemy. As Christians, we worship the “God of angel armies.” Should we fear anything?
Perhaps we should prayerfully search our hearts and ask God what is it that He is calling us to do that we are hesitant to do because of fear. It could be something really simple like reaching out to a neighbor or visiting a new Sunday school class. It could be something much bigger like pursuing a lifelong dream. Either way, if He calls us to do it, we should be fearless.
Because, those things that make us hesitate, well those are just spiritual cicadas. They just look and sound scary. We should pay them no attention.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂