Shield bug

In the midst of much emotional turmoil yesterday, God sent a huge bug crawling across my doorstep.

I don't usually bump into exotic bugs. (Thankfully.) And I don't normally take pictures of the bugs that I encounter. I'd rather run away before they fly or hop onto my head - and nibble my ear. (Maybe they don't. It is just my phobia.) There is such terror connected to a bug spreading its wings, poised for a flight. Or fight. I am chicken. But something... a miraculous something compelled me to bend down and take a closer look this time. Maybe the bright orange colour. Maybe the unique patterns on its pentagon shield shap.

Zooming in. Its legs were creepy. Its feelers trembled and I felt a little sick. But there was something about it... Upside down, it was a kind, smiling face.

Corny as this might sound, I will take it as a smiley from God. Perhaps, the bug was a sort of messenger - like Elijah's raven. Balaam's donkey. Noah's dove that flew back with an olive branch in the mouth. If the bug could speak, perhaps it would have squeaked: "Surprise! Smile!"

Despite myself, I smiled.

And whipped out my phone camera. Haha. A typical city girl, I am.

Anyway, I was reminded... that however I've failed (myself, people, or God), however others have failed me... God never fails. Because He is love. Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8). Love doesn't leave one's beloved lonely for long. He must comfort, shield, and strengthen. He must show kindness even in His rebuke. He must promise restoration even in His afflictions.

I was reminded that God never fails to bring the best out of every disaster and tragedy. He never fails to bring us to savour His glory... because that is what we need. A glimpse, a taste, a touch of hope. His glory is hope. It declares that there is a glorious God far greater than our problems. Or the problems of the world rolled into one. Nothing surprises Him. Nothing surpasses Him. Nothing limits Him. If He can raise Jesus from the grave, what more us, from the deaths we daily die in a sin-scourged world?

I am really not a perfect person. I fail in every way possible. My thoughts, actions, words. In my roles - as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend. These days, I beat myself up so badly that the wounds are so fresh and raw. And I jump whenever salt touches them. Perhaps then, the shield bug also serves to remind me that God yet smiles... More than the smiley on the shiny shap of a bug, He makes His face shine upon me even while my face is shadowed and my head is bowed in shame. Like the Psalmist said, "But You, O LORD, are a Shield about me, my glory, and the Lifter of my head" (Ps 3:3). There is favour in Christ.

God, You ward off the fiery darts of the Enemy, the storms of trials from every direction, and my self-condemnation.

From the end of the Earth, I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I (Ps 61:2).