I did.
I bought a fly swatter at the end of month four and I have carried that thing with me for seven months now. Essentials. It’s all about essentials on the World Race. Here’s why and how the Holy Spirit spoke to me through moments of irritation and discomfort.
Ok, so you may know that I love hiking and being outdoors and having picnics and hammocking among trees, but what many are surprised by is the fact that I absolutely HATE bugs. So many friends question my reaction to all the bugs that we would see in the woods when hiking or camping. “Danielle, I thought you loved hiking?” they would ask, confused. “I do like hiking, its bugs I hate” I would respond.
When we arrived in Cote d’Ivoire it was too hot and muggy to consider that bugs would thrive, and I actually welcomed the hot days for that reason. Our house was near a river and if you live near a body of water you know what comes with the territory. Bugs. At night, if we left our window open there would be 30+ mosquitoes in our bathroom. I would spend 10 minutes before bed looking for mosquitoes in my tent with a flashlight and napkin like a crazy person. By day three “bugs & lizards” were on my prayer list. No joke, I prayed to have peace about them. Lizards were crawling around on the walls of the house and even creeping into our room every now and then. The other girls had a lizard make their room its home!
One night while I sat in my tent on attempt 6 to kill this mosquito it hit me that:
1. It would be a lot easier with a fly swatter and
2. This pesky little thing causes a whole lot of ruckus for its size.
It can’t just be left alone because it WILL bite me come the early morning hours. It’s amazing how ONE mosquito can make a world of difference when it’s stuck in the same tent. For all I know that mosquito could have malaria and THAT was not a road I wanted to go down again.
I realized that the same can be said about sin. Often times it seems like a small thing, and it can’t cause much harm, but in reality it does so much damage in our lives. I love the way the Holy Spirit works to point out the sin in our lives. A light to illuminate where it is and a gentle spirit to nudge us in the right direction. The Holy Spirit does not condemn or shame rather it convicts. That feeling you have that someTHING is bad or wrong… that’s the Holy Spirit. The feeling you get of shame and disgrace, that YOU are bad or separated from Christ… that’s the enemy. For too long I had lived believing the lie that I had sinned too much or too great and that I was no longer accepted or wanted by God. The reality is that though God does not approve of sin he loves us unconditionally.
My encouragement to you is to recognize sin while it’s still small and ask the Lord to fight for you as you walk away from it. If it is something that you’re feeling overwhelmed with, take it to the Lord and to your community for support as you make changes. Filter your thoughts through the shame/guilt filter to recognize if the enemy is trying to trap you in a cycle of negative, defeated thinking or if it’s the Holy Spirit guiding your path and trying to keep you in safety.
“…because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God… For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:14, 38 & 39
