Something we talk about a lot on the World Race but I haven’t wrote a lot about are the parasites. Like lice.
In the states people freak out about lice. It’s a sign of neglect when a kid gets it. And a sign of dirtiness to be avoided.
But in the village of Cambodia even the adult women just ignore it. They have lived with it for so long that they have given up trying to eradicate it from their lives.
It got me thinking: Is there a parasite in my life that I’ve lived with for so long I no longer feel a desire to get rid of it? Have I numbed my nerves to a sin or a hidden habit?
Of course there is. I’m no where near perfect. But I can choose to be weighted down by shame and condemnation or I can look at it from another angle…
I’ve gotten lice three times on the race now. The first time I got it I was disappointed but since I was one of four on my team that got it, we just laughed and helped each other shampoo our scalps. I now look at it as an opportunity to sit with teammates, get my hair played with and intercede for the ministry that we are called to that month. You see what the enemy uses to be a set back, God turns into a set up.
It’s relaxing as you just sit at the feet of Jesus and worship Him. The teammate picking out the lice is the one doing all the work. Ironically you can’t deliver yourself. (I originally wrote de-lice but autocorrect said deliver and I like that too.) We work hard to get rid of it. Spending hours painstakingly combing through each infected head to pull out every black nit and snatch every bug.
It’s not a one-and-done thing. I have to ask someone to check me daily for a few weeks. Because one egg left is a reinfestation if not caught fast.
It’s such a spiritual truth.
To eradicate sin or bad habits, it takes not letting one thought slip through the filter of Jesus.
But unlike lice, God has such grace for us. He’s the rockstar teammate who is always down to sit with us, and pick through our roots to pull out the nit. In Song of Songs after praising the Shulamite’s beauty and love the Bridegroom says “You must catch the troubling foxes, those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship. For they raid our budding vineyard of love to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them for me? We will do it together.” (Song of Songs 2:15 TPT)
What can you invite God into today? What parasite do you feel you are perpetually fighting? How can you shift your focus from feeling defeated to worshiping through through it?
