Biblical Bug Spray

Last month somewhere in my backyard, a mosquito died a happy little bugger after gorging on a 13-course breakfast of A- blood he extracted from my legs. I was probably his last meal—I can hope, can’t I?
   For several days, pink dots of calamine lotion dotted my legs from ankle to thigh. I looked like Madame Mim during her duel with Merlin in “Sword in the Stone.” Go ahead, laugh; it is funny. I had the power to refuse this bug his breakfast, so why didn’t I?

   Sunrise is my favorite part of the day. In summer, I rarely miss dawn, enjoying the coolness of the morning outside on my patio swing, hot cup of sweetened coffee in hand. This particular morning the sun had been up well over an hour. I’d had my quiet time and had moved on to other things. My laptop now sat where my Bible had been, and my fingers pounded the keyboard. Nature inspires my creativity, and I wanted to enjoy as much time outside as I could before it got too hot. No bug was going to force me inside. Thirteen bites later, I bolted for shelter.
   Nowadays, we never know when a harmful situation may confront us. Hazards are everywhere; however, we can’t allow fear of what might happen to keep us panicked, frantic, and agoraphobic. Instead, we do what we can to protect ourselves. We teach our children about stranger danger, we lock the doors at night and whenever we leave the house, we avoid walking alone at night on dark streets. I could have shielded myself from that pesky mosquito by spraying on bug repellant. But the thought never crossed my mind.
   First Peter 5:8 tells us, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (NLT). I failed to be diligent. What’s worse, I thought I could handle the situation. When the bug stung me the first time, I just flicked him away. He kept biting and I kept swatting instead of removing myself from the bug’s grasp.
   We don’t intentionally put ourselves into risky places, but when we discover a situation has become harmful, we often make the mistake of thinking we can handle things on our own. We can’t.
   God has provided tools for our protection in the Bible. “We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons,” (2 Corinthians 10:4); “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation,” (Matthew 26:41); and “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11, all from New King James). Ephesians 6:14-17 expounds on the armor God has provided us. God is God of abundance. His Word liberally provides many, many verses we can apply to any one situation we may face. With his Word and his help, he brings us through the difficulties of life.
   I had two options available to deal with that mosquito, and I failed to utilize either one. You can start today to apply the defenses available to you for the fight you face. Read the Bible, and find verses applicable to your circumstances. Then put them into practice. Pray them daily. Say them out loud and stand firm in your faith in God. By doing so, you’ll deny the devil his next thirteen-course meal.
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A Nebraska native, Debra L. Butterfield has lived far and wide from Hawaii to Germany and numerous points in between. Debra often draws on her experience as an international resident and as a US Marine to inspire her writing. But it is as the mother of a sexual abuse victim that she finds the drive and passion to reach out to women in similar circumstances. Debra is the publisher and editor of the online magazine Glory and Strength and a contributing writer to the Benefit Package. She can be found online at www.gloryandstrength.com and www.debralbutterfield.com.