I am crazy- maybe

I heard the flies say “I am not always trying to annoy you.”

I love to hike and walk; I generally like to be out in nature away from all the noise and excess input. I enjoy leaving my thoughts at home and wander the wilderness. Can you imagine my annoyance as I noticed the buzz of flies and mosquitoes? I was enjoying the sounds of crickets, singing birds and the flowing river. My irritation increased every time an occasional fly buzzed past me or landed on me. I was grossed out; this hike was not for the flies, I was here for the songbirds and the dancing butterflies. Do you know what I mean?

Naturally, I reached into my pocket for earbuds you know to keep the sound out, but as I reached in, I heard the Holy Spirit say “How will you hear the birds and the butterfly if you plug your ears?” My response was “Duh, I can’t.” The thing was I was so irritated by the flies and the mosquitoes that I wanted to plug my ears so I wouldn’t hear them.

I wonder how many things in my life and in your life friends that we have plugged out because there was a mosquito buzzing. I wonder how many relationships we have not built or developed because there was an annoying habit that we could not get over, so we plugged it. I am not suggesting that we encourage lousy behavior or allow abusive relationship and bad habits. I am merely suggesting that we take another look at the things we plug out.

Colossians 3:13-15(TPT) “Tolerate the weakness of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ. If you find fault with someone, release this same gift of forgiveness to them.” Just take a second look and see if you are irritated by things that are negotiable. Are you so mad that you have allowed the occasional buzz to steal the beauty around you? Is the occasional fly dictating the adventure you go on? The thing is sometimes I understand the crickets and the birds. I know it may sound crazy, but I have received words from the Lord through the bird and the whisper of a butterfly. No, I don’t need to be locked up! I wonder how many messages I have missed words from the Lord in the wind because my ears were plugged, I was probably irritated by a fly.

This morning when I put my earbuds back into my pocket, I heard the fly say “I am not always trying to irritate you.” It is not about the fly but about the work God is doing in my life and yours.