One day last week, I had it all planned of what I wanted to accomplish. I was going to push mow our daughter’s lawn before working on some other things. I wanted to do that before it the heat of the day. I gassed up the machine and went to a corner of her house to mow some weeds. I reached out and pulled some vines and other weeds. In the process, I disturbed and angered some hornets. They saw me before I saw them and made me aware of their presence. I was stung three times before I could get away. Those stings left me feeling as if I were on fire.

I was stung on the left thumb, right arm and ear. The dilemma was where and how long I could keep ice on a spot before the others became so unbearable that I needed to move it. My plans for the day quickly changed. The things on my original list didn’t happen. Things like that happen to all of us. Maybe we don’t all get stung by hornets, but things happen to change our focus and plans. Sometimes those things are much more serious, other times it might be opportunities that one doesn’t want to refuse.

Thinking about it later, it amazed me how such small creatures could cause so much pain. Something so small could seem insignificant, but the harm they can do can’t be taken lightly. If I had a severe allergy to them, it could have been a very dangerous situation since no one knew where I was at the time, and no one was around. Vehicles and buildings hid me from view. The situation could have been much worse than it was. I was very grateful to the Lord for His help.

Sometimes we can become so absorbed by what happens that we don’t realize how much worse things could be. We are blinded by what we are going through to see the blessings in and around the situation. At times we ignore little things, thinking they are so small that what difference does it make. If not attended to, those small “sins” can cause a huge amount of damage.
As we commit our steps unto the Lord, even though we may not always understand why somethings happen, we can be sure He is watching over us. Even when our plans are changed, and maybe not by our choosing, we can trust Him to lead us. We must also be aware that no matter how small and insignificant we think something is, pretending it is ok will not make it go away. Asking forgiveness and forgiving are so much better than letting it grow into a bigger problem. Had we realized hornets were building a nest, we would have stopped it long before. Now it is an issue that begs attention. The same can happen in many areas of our lives if unattended. May God give us all wisdom in all the things we face.