Bugged by Those Annoying Bugs

The last week in June, First Baptist Church in Bancroft will be hosting Vacation Bible School for grade school children. The theme this year is “Bug Zone: Transformed By Our Big God!” Just as a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly, so are we transformed when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
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Though I like the theme for our Bible School this year I do not necessarily like bugs. That word “bug” has multiple definitions. It can mean an insect or even an arachnid. It can also mean to pester or annoy. Both these definitions fit quite well with what we call bugs.
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A while ago our two year old woke up crying and pointing to the corner of his crib and saying “bug!” Evidently a fly had bit him and he was scared. A few weeks after that we were outside in the evening and ended up being bugged by mosquitoes. No doubt about it, bugs bug people.
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We even have examples of bugs bugging people in the Bible. God sent bugs as one of the plagues upon the Egyptians during the time of Moses. “And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.” (Exodus 8:24) God later sent hornets against Israel’s enemies to drive them off the land. “And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.” (Joshua 24:12)
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Bugs are small, but they can do a lot of damage. Grasshoppers, or locusts as they are often called, can destroy crops. “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;” (Proverbs 30:27) The moth and worm can do much damage even in small numbers. “For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.” (Isaiah 51:8)
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The next time a bug bugs you, realize that no one is immune from the effects of bugs. “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.” (Proverbs 30:28)
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Though bugs are terribly annoying, we can learn valuable lessons from their persistence. “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.” (Proverbs 6:6-8)
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Let’s face it, bugs are not the only things that bug us. We face many annoyances in life, but as we do, we need to learn and grow through those annoyances rather than letting them be an excuse for sin. In other words we need to trust God’s power to transform us through our trials just as he transforms a caterpillar into a butterfly. James 1:2-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”