I was recently running, nothing unusual. As I was running, I noticed something on the ground. It was right where my heel should land in stride, but I pushed out further to avoid squishing it's life out from him. It wasn't until I barely missed, that I realized it was a hornet. I hoped it wouldn't pop up quickly and sting me so I said, "Please show me mercy, as I have you."
But as I continued on, my mind was brought to a new point: What if I was meant to kill that hornet? Humans are given free will. Whether you're a Christian or not, you can know that your actions are your own. Nobody is pulling the strings. The difference lies in the reason behind our choices, usually. And no, this isn't necessarily a God post, but it also cannot be. So follow me on this journey through my heart and mind. God did not force me to go and run at the exact time that I did. He didn't force me into the path that I chose to run. I was allowed to awaken when I did and run. But what if he did have that hornet on the ground at just that time knowing my stride length, the path I would take, every little detail? What if he knew something bad would happen if that hornet was left alive and made sure he dropped to the ground when I would be the conquering hero to destroy it, but I chose to give it mercy? Heavy thoughts for a morning run. I think this happens more often than we would like to admit. We long to be the good guy. We want to do what is right. But we don't always know what is right or wrong. Keeping the hornet alive is the right thing to do to honor God's creations. But what if that hornet flew up and stung a child? What if that hornet sent a human into anaphylactic shock? They are alone in their yard when they get stung, not knowing they are allergic, and go into the house alone only to die. I could've prevented it if I would have just stomped that nasty hornet out of existence! Or not. Maybe I did the right thing after all. We see this when it comes to the beggar on the street. If we give them money, they could go get a meal. Or they can use the money for drugs or alcohol. It's then a debate of whether or not we should give them money. For many of us, we try to pray over it and listen for the voice of God or a nudge on our hearts. Sometimes we offer to get them food instead of giving money. Some of us give money and pray that they will use it well or say we did our job to provide. But we really don't know. We could have enabled a habit or stifled hunger. It's out of our control. How often do we do this in everyday situations? (Prepare for the bus, Charlie.) My husband does this often. He loves to "help" me. Usually his help ends up causing some sort of problem- it wasn't done well, I have to redo it, it needed to be done after something else or before something else. You know how it works. Spouses seem to have a magical way of screwing up nice gestures. We do this as parents. We help our kids or don't immediately help to teach a life lesson, or some other thing. Did it hurt them in the immediate? Did it hurt in the long run? We don't know. We won't know until time passes. I'm not sure I have a solution for the hornet effect (previously the butterfly effect, but nobody steps on butterflies unless they're psychotic). It's just something that has made me think. Perhaps we should all think about our actions more.
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May 2023
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