A few days ago, my son, Warren, noticed a large moth on the outside of a window and asked whether he could go out to the front porch to catch said moth. He has a small, screened-in bug observation box, so I responded that he could catch the moth so long as he kept it in his bug box until later when we would need to release the moth back outside.
Warren excitedly opened the screen door to go out with his little net and bug box, but then he got nervous. He pleaded with me for ten minutes, imploring me to catch the moth for him. I responded that if he wanted to catch the moth and keep it in the house for the day, he would need to catch it himself. It had rained that morning and the moth looked soaking wet and either asleep or dead, clung to the window screen. Even telling him that didn’t help bolster his courage.
Despite his efforts at pumping himself up, he lost his nerve repeatedly and could not even get a foot out the door. His little sister, Colbie, was with him and had offered to go out with him, but he just couldn’t get it together. Finally, I said, “Warren, I know this is something you want to do, and I know it feels a little scary. But who is always with you?” He responded, “God…. And Colbie. Come on, Colb!” and out they went.
Because I was on the other side of the window, I got to see his focused face as he swiftly “caught” the moth in his net (not all that remarkable given its utter stillness and maybe-deadness) and then carefully positioned his bug box underneath so that he could drop the moth in and then close the door. In that moment, you would NEVER have known how scared he had been. He looked so calm and collected, serious and intent on his goal, and the whole thing took a maximum of ten seconds. Then he came back in and exclaimed with his back-to-usual total grin face, “Mom! I did it! I caught the moth!”
This little experience gave me some thoughts to ponder, some of which may resonate with you. First, I love how reassured Warren felt when he was reminded that the Lord is always with him. Childlike faith is not to be seen as less due to some naivete or inexperience. It is more because of its sincere simplicity.
God is with you. Period. That doesn’t guarantee our success, nor does it mean we should haphazardly go about doing whatever we please and expect that God will protect us from any natural consequences of being foolish or arrogant in our assumptions of what He wants for our lives. But He is there. And, usually, our feelings about that statement reveal much to us about our faith and our integrity.
For Warren, the reminder clearly gave him comfort and confidence about something which had otherwise seemed perhaps beyond what he could do on his own. Joshua 1:9 is one of many times in which the Bible tells us that God is with us: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
If we truly believed this and remembered this every waking morning, what would it encourage us to do? What would it encourage us to release? How might it change our everyday decision making?
Also, I laughed out loud at Warren’s response as he continued, “…and Colbie. Come on, Colb!” I remember that, even for us die-hard independents, harder things become more realistic and/or more enjoyable when we have someone else by our side. Someone – a friend, a sibling, a spouse, a child, a parent – who is willing to be a part of the adventure in whatever way and cheer us along or remind us that we aren’t alone. Even if, like in this case, it was merely for emotional support by being a steady presence in the background.
Galatians 6:2 tells us to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” I think some of us may also sometimes need the reminder to allow someone who wants to help carry your burden to do so when you could use an assist. It is a gift to have someone willing to be with you through life, or through a season or even for simply a one-time experience. Yet, ironically, it can be a form of selfishness which deters us from allowing others into those spaces or from accepting a helping hand. I also admire how kids don’t usually overthink it; they just ask for help when they need it, and are also often quick to help someone else.
On another note, I was struck by the look on my boy’s face as he caught that moth. I never get that particular vantage point when he is intently focused on something. I always see him in a peripheral way as he is focused on something he is making, drawing or fixing. But this time, I got to see him right in front of me, facing my way but focused on something a few inches in front of my face. He looked so put together and like the epitome of cool, calm, and collected. Entirely intent and capable, and it went so smoothly.
You never would have known that under the surface (even above the surface for the full ten minutes prior!), he had been nervous. There was trepidation and even some fear about it. I think sometimes when we see people who seem to be a natural at something, or who excel from an outside perspective, it’s easy to assume they are just on another level in life.
Maybe you have allowed such speculations about others to get you discouraged. The thing is, most everyone has gone through times of doubt, fear, pushing past and overcoming the challenges (including challenging thoughts) that have come along the way. You’d likely never know it from the sliver of their lives that you get to see, but everyone is human and everyone has things they sometimes need to talk themselves through or hype themselves up to get done. That thought is encouraging to me, and I hope it is an encouraging thought to you, as well.
Lastly, the maybe-dead moth was not in fact dead. After Warren brought it into the house, it took about half an hour, but it started flying around inside the bug box. I don’t know if it just needed to dry out, warm up, or wake up, but that thing was definitely not dead. It just needed to conserve its energy for whatever reason and, when it was able to again, it resumed usual activity. I suppose I liked this concept because sometimes folks need the reminder that it is okay to have a time, a day, a season where our energy just isn’t what it usually is. Maybe a lot is going on inside, so we don’t necessarily have it in us to keep up on all the outside stuff. Maybe, like the moth, we are just working to survive and, so, we aren’t really ready to fly again yet.
It takes time. And I think it can be easy to assume that if we are having one of those lesser-energy times that it means that this is how life will always be now for some reason. But it will pass, and you should give yourself the space and the grace you need as you walk through that time. We should also extend grace to others who aren’t fluttering around as usual, who need to (as my daughter often quotes me) “take a minute” before resuming their usual pace, or even perhaps finding new rhythms in life that serve their current needs better. Oh to extend the kind of grace the Lord has for us. Can you imagine?
Those are some thoughts that flittered across my mind thanks to a successful moth capture the other morning. We let the moth go in the evening, and it is now a memory. But we can be thankful for the short-lived blessings long after they are no longer in our hands. Go catch that moth.
Deuteronomy 31:8,
HLC
sacred strokes 