How
is it that given the same (or almost the same) circumstances, with different
people, you can have such night and day responses. To illustrate this point,
consider the following.
Everyone
is well acquainted with my little friend Musca domestica, or better known as
the House Fly. He is quite the neat little feat of engineering. His wings are
amazing, beating around 200 to 300 times a second for an average speed of 4.5
miles per hour. The wings provide enough power and precision for instant
liftoff and complicated flight movements, such as tight spirals, zigzags and
even backward maneuvers. If he did not have these wings he would not be named
the fly, but the walk.
And
then there are the legs, which the fly uses to taste everything on which it lands.
Tiny hairs on the end leg segment, work like human taste buds. For this reason,
you can often spot houseflies walking around in circles on potential meals. The
bottom of the housefly's feet have tiny, gripping claws and moist suction pads
called pulvilli, which allow the fly to land almost anywhere.
Houseflies
are meticulous in their grooming, particularly around their eyes. These flies
use their forelegs to remove any material that has come into contact with the
eyes.
Now
to my point since you have obtained an in-depth understanding of a little
creature you so adamantly despise. Put aside the facts about these little guys being
able to carry disease and whatever on their bodies.
I have observed (I was specifically watching) multiple
people interact with these flies. I myself have had a run in or two, since my
wife demands the house be open air during the spring, summer and fall months,
and having children, the doors tend to stay open more than not.
Sitting
in a chair relaxing, reading or some other important activity, a fly will land
on me. Now, I am not the brightest of all God’s creatures (if you know what I
mean), so forgive me that my mind does not forthwith snap into action with a
red beacon light accompanied by a warning distress siren sounding that disease
has touched down on the premises of my personage. No on the contrary, I
actually enjoy the little bug. I let him crawl on me, up and down my arm,
around my eyes, on my nose. If he comes to my mouth, well that’s just a little
too close and personal. He really has no business there. I like to observe
them, and in a weird twisted way, it kind of feels good how they tickle. That
is just me though.
I
saw other people react to this very same creation of genius. It drove them to
instantaneous insanity. Arms waving and flailing about, as if they were
being attacked with knife. They had no rest until their enemy of bubonic plague
was eliminated. And I’ll bet if I asked most of the people that were on the
brink of a psychological fly breakdown why they were so determined, I don’t
think the answer would have sounded like this, “well, you know how much disease
these creatures of death spread, I see it as my mission to stomp out, and rid
the world of another “Mack the Knife .””
The truth is they don’t like to be “bugged”. I have had
many interactions with flies, and I have lived to tell about it. It’s not
bragging really, because being so careless and living on the edge like I have
done by flirting with these creatures in service of the grim reaper, might cost
me one day.
How
can the same fly bring out such a different reaction in different people? Is it
how the fly is relating? Hardly. He is doing the same thing he was designed to
do, and has always done. How I react, is something that is inside of me. It was
already there, it just took the fly to bring it out. In some, as I observed, it
was peace, and intrigue, and others, it was almost an anger, chaos, and frenzy.
All over a little fly.
I
find the same thing in other areas of our lives, not just in relation to a fly.
So many situations and scenarios that come into our journey, present us with
decisions of how we are going to react. When we do react, our actions can speak
a lot about what is going on inside of our hearts. Action always follow belief.
Certain situations can bring out who I really am quicker than others. We all
have our specific “pet peeves” or weaknesses that drive us to the edge quicker
than others, but that is not really an excuse.
Don’t
get me wrong, I am not saying to never swat a fly, I am only using this trite
illustration to bring out the reactions that can be based off of a seemingly
unimportant event. When things happen, look at your reaction, and ask yourself,
“why am I reacting the way I am.” You might be surprised as to not only what
you may learn, but also what God wants to put His finger on. A person who is
alive in Messiah, and is indwelt and controlled by the Spirit, is to have
the evidences of the Spirit as spoken of by Paul in his letter to the Galatians
(5:22). If these are not your reactions (as a pattern), and you find yourself
on the opposite extreme of these things, like Mark Twain said, “whenever you
find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” If
I were driven into the wilderness (desert, it’s hot by the way), and had no
food for 40 days, no air conditioning, and some little devil came buzzing
around pestering me, trying to get me to break God’s command, and do anything
but have me live in complete subjection to the Father, what would I do? Sorry
to say, it does not take a wilderness journey most of the time, to get me
flustered, and out of touch. It can be no air conditioning. Hot weather, cold
weather, wet weather, dry weather, weather. Other bugs, let me tell you about
mosquitoes. Just kidding. I think you get my drift.
Next
time a fly lands on you, think about this spiritual truth. Same fly, different
reaction.
"Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes
out of the mouth, this defiles a man…those things which proceed out of the
mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man." Matt 15
