Buggin' Out

A couple of years back, I took a trip to Miami to surprise my dad for his birthday. My first night there, I stayed at this hotel with some colorful creatures. Not the people; I mean bugs. Outside, thankfully. But as I was entering the building, I noticed some funky, funky things chillin' in the bushes. They were pretty, though. Bright reds and yellows tainted by black stripes and marks that likely meant they were poisonous. Blech.

Anyway. I was glad they were there and I was heading somewhere else. I went about my business and forgot about them for the most part.

Until the next day, that is. I was leaving the hotel and trying to clean up my room. I had a bag with the previous night's dinner garbage, and I wanted to throw it out. Only one problem. I heard a crazy loud buzzing noise from that bag. I didn't want to touch it. I just imagined it was inhabited by one of those gnarly, gigantic bugs that I had seen out front the day before. But I didn't just want to leave it there. I moved all my other stuff out and finally asked one of the staff gentlemen if he could please come and help me. He did. What I saw next was so unexpected.

The bug was a little black thing less than a centimeter in length! What a set of lungs it had! Harmless. But I had conjured all sorts of images in my mind simply because of what 1 out of my 5 senses could receive.

How often I do this. Not with bugs, but with important things. Judge a situation by what everyone is saying about it. We build a whole understanding of what is good based on what we see.

For me, I am starting to see how twisted my thinking is when it comes to what is lovely and admirable in a woman. I have been bred by culture to think that the flashier, the louder, the more of a crowd-pleaser a person is, the stronger a woman she is.

The truth looks so different. What is praiseworthy in a lady is how her actions affect others' hearts, which her outward appearance cannot indicate. Just because you stir a crowd doesn't mean you are leading well. Jesus said leadership is about serving and not lording your position over people. And strength in a woman is not "getting what she wants" through manipulation, but being free enough to love. She doesn't have to defend herself because she knows her worth doesn't come from what others think. I'm not there yet, but I am excited as God helps me to be this kind of woman!

So let's forget about making big buzzing noises. Forget about pleasing people's senses, and go for touching hearts. This is hard to do, because we have an Enemy who tells us we are small nobodies if we care more about love for others than being admired. You will not win popularity contests, and people may think you are silly or idealistic. But you will warm God's heart, and you will change people's lives. God sees every kind act of yours. Jesus even said that anyone who so much as gives a cup of water to one of His people will by no means lose their reward in Heaven! So give your cups of water, and know you are making a genuine difference in the world!