Elephants and Mosquitoes

Do you sometimes feel that life is what it is, and there’s nothing 
you can do about it? 

Sometimes the things that are out of our control in our lives are mosquitoes and sometimes, they are elephants.  When we used to travel with our kids, we’d laugh at the other vehicles on the road.  We’d get behind an elephant (a big RV or truck) or a mosquito might whiz past us making a terrible noise and irritating the daylights out of us (a fast motorcycle or car.) 

Think about our lives as a journey, and the paths that we take as the highway we travel. We meet both elephants and mosquitoes on our journey through life.

The elephants are like trials in our life that are so big they instill fear and discouragement in us.  They hinder our progress.  We can’t go on the way we were heading because we’re stuck behind them.  Major disasters, loss of loved one, loss of a job, illness and major pain or age are all like elephants that we confront on this travel through life.  They are all huge and hard to get past, aren’t they? 

Then think of the mosquitoes as the little things that we turn into big things.  That could be rudeness in others, irritating situations, people who keep pestering us or maybe even the weather.  Waiting – that’s a biggie for most people.  How about noise or a dull ache that won’t go away?  

Many times, when confronted with mosquitoes (irritations) we respond in anger.  Just as we slap at mosquitoes when they irritate us – we tend to do that to a friend or a spouse or someone near us – we want to stop the irritation so we may be rude to them. We may not slap them physically, but our voices do just that. 

When we have to face an elephant – a big disaster, death or illness, we know we can’t control it and we feel helpless.  And since we know we aren’t in control we find that we’re more apt to go for help – to God, or to friends.  Or maybe we learn to deal that elephant named trouble.  Or we may learn to be patient.  That’s probably the hardest thing to do.

   – not so with mosquitoes, we think we’re bigger than they are.

We act as if we can do something about them.  Little irritating mosquitoes – they bug us and cause us to sin even more than the great big elephant events.  That’s one thing I think we can all work on – trying to see why some things irritate us.  We can also look under the surface of our anger - to see if the cause of that is impatience, our pride or our lack of love for others.

The way we react to irritations shows where our heart is – I for one, need to look beyond myself.

But in the big and small things – God really does provide help and comfort.  Let's look at 1 Peter 5:7 (KJV) and 2 Cor 1:3,4 (NIV) 

“Cast all your care upon Him for He cares for you.  

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”  

And in our troubles, we learn patience – which is the most amazing attribute of God – Wow! How patient He is with us!   

So when the elephants – the big trials of life - block our way, slow us down and make us detour from the plans we have – let’s remember that God has plans for us as well.  We read in …

Jeremiah 29:11 - 12 (NIV)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you

And when the mosquitoes (the small things) irritate us, let’s remember that’s what they are – small things.  

I wrote this little poem because sometimes it's easier to keep things in my head when they rhyme.

The simple route I’d planned to take

turns soon into a jumbled maze.

A detour sends me to the side

then twists in fickle random ways.

I thought I had the map prepared.

I thought I knew which way to go.

I thought the route I’d planned was best,

but now I find that it’s not so.

And now an irritation comes - 

mosquitoes - they exasperate.

They chafe and sting and make me mad.

They bother vex and aggravate.

I thought I had the map prepared.

I thought I knew which way to go.

I thought the route I’d planned was best,

but now I find that it’s not so.

Back on the road I’m making time

until I find I’m blocked behind

an elephant of mammoth size,

and there’s no way to pass I find.

I thought I had the map prepared.

I thought I knew which way to go.

I thought the route I’d planned was best,

but “Who,” I ask, “is in control?”

  

Do you sometimes think that you are in control of the trip – and find that you’re not?  Mosquitoes and Elephants come into our lives to help us see that we’re not in charge.  But they also help us to know we have to depend on the master planner, the master map maker, the one who made the road.

God bless your travels.

Diane