Battle the Beetles

Dear Faith Family,

You who were running well.  Who hindered you from obeying the truth?  This persuasion is not from Him who calls you.  A little leaven leavens the whole lump, (Galatians 5:7-9). 

The lights adorned the night.  The glow from the firepit added to the mood.  A rhythmic crunching echoed through the stillness.  There was a coolness in the air.  And by my side?  My best friend.  It was a long-awaited night in the backyard! 

Hold on there for just one minute!  What do you mean by rhythmic crunching?!  You know, the sound of an eighth of an inch beetle.  The kind that chews through the bark of pine trees. Their whole lifecycle consisting of egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages lasts from twenty-eight to fifty-four days according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission. 

And yet that little eighth of an inch terror is capable, in its short little life, of bringing down an eighty-foot pine tree (not hypothetically) in my backyard.  The long-awaited evening turned into a nightmare!  I can still hear their crunching!  The challenge is to battle with the beetles before they do their damage. 

The Song of Solomon, an incredible love story, puts it like this: Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom, (Song of Solomon 2:15). 

Can I ask?  What kind of beetles are you battling?  Angry beetles?  Beetles of fear?  I confess that the rhythmic crunching invited the fear monster onto the front porch of my heart!  Beetle idols (not idle beetles)?  What about envy beetles?  Don’t just “get through” that list.  Insert a pause here and think about the beetles that might want to paralyze you.  Got any eight-inch beetles causing eighty feet of destruction? 

What I’m discovering is that the beetles gotta go!  They must be removed, or they can affect more than just one tree.  Likewise, the sin that eats away at our hearts must go.  We’re no match for the beetles!  But I know Him who is! 

A healthy tree is the best defense.  In other words, a tree (us) bearing the fruit of God’s Spirit doesn’t leave much room for beetle infestation.  And, when temptation comes knocking, we need Him who in every respect has been tempted as we are.  And we need Him who is without sin.  The call?  Draw near to Him.  Introduce your beetles, your foxes, and your leaven to Him who has destroyed them on a tree in the shape of a cross!  And, with His help, battle the beetles! 

Battling the beetles,

Pastor Karl