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We Eliminate What We Can’t Stand To Live With

There are some things we just can’t stand to live with. We will even try to eliminate them when we can.

we eliminate what we can't stand to live with

This morning I went out to our deck to write my blog. Up at the corner of our roof and awning was a massive spider web. There was no spider; he had already fled the scene, but had left behind a masterpiece.

It was impressive, not only the size of the web, but the intricacies of the creation. Spider webs are proportionately stronger than steel – which is pretty amazing when you think about it. 

I was fascinated with it so I called my wife, Lily, to come out to see it. I kind of chuckled when I called her because she doesn’t have a good relationship with spiders.

Remember the 80’s movie series that included Raiders of the Lost Ark? Harrison Ford played Indiana Jones, a professor and ancient artifact hunter. Indiana would get himself into all kinds of dangerous and horrifying situations. He would walk boldly into death-defying circumstances. But the one thing he hated and was afraid of was snakes. 

Well, Lily and Indiana are much alike except Lily hates and is afraid of spiders. Oh, and she’s not an ancient artifact hunter either. 

One time when she was in Thailand she swears she saw a big man-eating spider in the bathroom. She screamed and ran down the hall to her bedroom. And the spider, she says, ended up on the back of her bedroom door. 

She has never returned to Thailand … I’m just saying. 

You get the idea; Lily is not a fan of spiders. 

So when I showed her this beautiful spider web, her first words were, “that’s gross”. She told me that the web had to go right that minute, “eliminate it”. 

Lily grabbed a nearby broom and approached the spider web. There was no hesitation, no real thought involved in her decision. She was not going to live with a spider web in her vicinity. It didn’t matter how interesting the pattern looked, she wasn’t going to coexist with it. 

I’m pretty sure that many people would have much the same reaction. For some people it’s spiders, for others it might be mosquitos. 

Those people don’t just put on bug spray to keep the mosquitos away. They buy big catchers that emanate a blue light to entice the mosquitoes to their ultimate demise. Those people are not just interested in not being stung, they have a real desire to eliminate all mosquitos from the world.

… So back to Lily and her spider web. 

Well, she got up on a chair and just before she demoed the web she marvelled at its structure. She even expressed some sadness in the elimination of the web. 

And with that the spider web was gone and so were a few other smaller ones nearby. 

As she spun that broom around she said, “There better not be spiders in heaven!” 

Here’s the thing: There is one thing that God refuses to live with and that is sin. Sin is anything that misses the mark of God’s intent and purpose for us. But the amazing thing is that God made a way for us all to deal with our sin and be able to live with God in heaven. He sent Jesus to pay for our sin. Take God up on His provision and His desire that no one be refused to live with Him in heaven.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is it that you refuse to live with? Leave your comments and questions below.

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How Instinct Can Automate Your Life

Instinct is a marvelous thing. It protects us, automates us, and it works fast! The other night we arrived at our cottage at about 9:30 in the evening. At this time of year, that means it’s pitch black dark out.

waiting_spider_web

Before we can turn the lights on in the cottage, we have to turn on the main switch at the power box outside around the back of the cottage. That’s my responsibility. So, I went around back, bent down to flick the switch and put my head in a spider web.

My immediate reaction was probably the same reaction 99% of people have when they do that: I pulled back and started swiping at the web. I did what anyone would do and for three good reasons …

The first reason is the web is sticky and it feels kind of gross. Secondly, we’ve all seen enough scary movies and there are always spider webs in scary movies! And thirdly, there may be a spider attached to that web that is going to start crawling all over you.

In a matter of a nano-second, I reacted for these three reasons and started flailing away. Right about then, Lily came with a flashlight so I could see the next spider web – which I avoided – as I reached to turn on the water to the cottage.

That instinctive reaction not only comes into play with spider webs. Early this summer while riding my bike I rode right into a swarm of tiny little bugs. Instinctively, I closed my eyes and mouth to protect myself from getting an eyeful or mouthful of the tasty little morsels.

It was amazing that I could be riding at about 20 km’s per hour right into the bugs and still get my eyes and mouth shut in time.

Instinct works like a machine. There is no processing time; it’s all reaction that happens in a split second. You don’t have to think, analyze, choose, or decide; it’s automatic.

There are many other things that we do instinctively. When we put something bad tasting in our mouth, it’s automatic that we all make the same face and spit it out. Some of us have better expressions than others, and some spit it out in more appropriate places that others. But instinctively, we all react without even a thought.

There are tons of things we do instinctively that are just built in to our nature. But there are things that we react to because we’ve learned to and it has become automatic.

You don’t think about what to do when you sit in a car, but you do the same thing every time. When you go to shave, you start in the same place every time. There are countless things we’ve learned to be instinctive about.

… Except putting out the garbage! I still have to become instinctive about that.

Here’s the thing: We can become instinctive about many things, and one of those things is prayer. Our instinctive reaction to life should be to pray … and developing such an instinct requires repetition. The more you repeat the same action (prayer) to what happens in your life, the sooner it will become instinctive for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you learned to be instinctive about? Leave your comment below.