By Josie Siler
I’m convinced that june bugs are suicidal. As a biker chick I’ve been familiar with june bugs for quite a while now. It’s hard to forget the feel of a big, juicy bug thwacking against the soft, exposed flesh of your neck at 55ish miles per hour.
The only exposed flesh on my body while I’m driving my motorcycle is my neck, where the helmet doesn’t reach and the leather jacket doesn’t cover. In the summer my fingertips are also exposed out the ends of my fingerless gloves.
It never ceases to amaze me how a june bug can find those little pieces of exposed flesh and kamikaze dive right into them, killing themselves and leaving their juicy little innards behind. The first time I took a june bug to the neck I thought I’d been shot. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that extreme, but to say it stings would be an injustice to the june bug.
For years I thought it was my fault – that I was driving into their flight path. After last weekend I’m convinced they’re suicidal. It was my birthday and I was celebrating with family and friends around a large bonfire. Shortly after dark large somethings began whizzing by our heads. Soon we heard strange noises coming from the fire.
If you’re thinking kamikaze june bugs you’re right! They were drawn to the fire like a moth to a flame. We heard the whizz as the bugs flew by our ears. The whizz was followed by a sickening sizzle and ferocious flapping of wings before all was quiet…until the next suicidal june bug’s kamikaze dive into the fire.
I’m convinced that june bugs are suicidal. As a biker chick I’ve been familiar with june bugs for quite a while now. It’s hard to forget the feel of a big, juicy bug thwacking against the soft, exposed flesh of your neck at 55ish miles per hour.
The only exposed flesh on my body while I’m driving my motorcycle is my neck, where the helmet doesn’t reach and the leather jacket doesn’t cover. In the summer my fingertips are also exposed out the ends of my fingerless gloves.
It never ceases to amaze me how a june bug can find those little pieces of exposed flesh and kamikaze dive right into them, killing themselves and leaving their juicy little innards behind. The first time I took a june bug to the neck I thought I’d been shot. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that extreme, but to say it stings would be an injustice to the june bug.
For years I thought it was my fault – that I was driving into their flight path. After last weekend I’m convinced they’re suicidal. It was my birthday and I was celebrating with family and friends around a large bonfire. Shortly after dark large somethings began whizzing by our heads. Soon we heard strange noises coming from the fire.
If you’re thinking kamikaze june bugs you’re right! They were drawn to the fire like a moth to a flame. We heard the whizz as the bugs flew by our ears. The whizz was followed by a sickening sizzle and ferocious flapping of wings before all was quiet…until the next suicidal june bug’s kamikaze dive into the fire.
We tried to warn them. It didn’t work. I sat there watching june bug after june bug fly into the fire. I thought about the ones who have given their lives on my neck, fingers, leathers, or windshield and said, “There’s got to be a blog post in here somewhere!”
I’ve been thinking about it, and this is my takeaway. People aren’t any better than june bugs. We all do things to hurt ourselves. We eat food that we know makes us feel sick because for those few moments it tastes so good. We don’t exercise like the doctor suggested because it’s tiring and we hurt when we try it. We stop taking that one medicine because even though it will be good for us in the long run, it makes us feel sick when we take it. We constantly do things that are not good for us because just for a moment we feel good.
We all have our weaknesses. Food, trashy movies, bad relationships, a secret sin, or maybe we’ve just given up. Self-control is hard, so hard. Add in sickness and everything that comes with it and self-control seems impossible.
Proverbs 25:28 (ESV) says, “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” My paraphrase – “A man without self-control is like a june bug flapping in the fire and burning alive.”
Self-control is vital to living a holy and joy-filled life. When we can’t muster up self-control, we need God-control. Let’s face it, sometimes life is too hard and we don’t have the energy, strength, or even desire to try to control our actions. That’s when we need to reach out to God and ask Him for help.
When we ask God for help we stop living for ourselves and start living for Him. In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NLT) Paul says, “Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” With Christ we have died to the things that hold us back, to who we used to be and the things we used to do. We can live new lives in Christ and for Him.
God also gives us the Holy Spirit to help us. Galatians 5:22-23 encourages us, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
With the Holy Spirit living in us, we can be confident in how we live our lives. 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV) reminds us that, “…God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
If you’re in a kamikaze dive like a june bug flapping in the fire, there’s a way out. Ask God to help you. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. Even though it’s not easy, it’s a whole lot easier than going it alone and finding yourself in the fire with no way out.
Trust God, ask Him for help, and remember that living inside you is a spirit of power, love, and self-control!
I’ve been thinking about it, and this is my takeaway. People aren’t any better than june bugs. We all do things to hurt ourselves. We eat food that we know makes us feel sick because for those few moments it tastes so good. We don’t exercise like the doctor suggested because it’s tiring and we hurt when we try it. We stop taking that one medicine because even though it will be good for us in the long run, it makes us feel sick when we take it. We constantly do things that are not good for us because just for a moment we feel good.
We all have our weaknesses. Food, trashy movies, bad relationships, a secret sin, or maybe we’ve just given up. Self-control is hard, so hard. Add in sickness and everything that comes with it and self-control seems impossible.
Proverbs 25:28 (ESV) says, “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” My paraphrase – “A man without self-control is like a june bug flapping in the fire and burning alive.”
Self-control is vital to living a holy and joy-filled life. When we can’t muster up self-control, we need God-control. Let’s face it, sometimes life is too hard and we don’t have the energy, strength, or even desire to try to control our actions. That’s when we need to reach out to God and ask Him for help.
When we ask God for help we stop living for ourselves and start living for Him. In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NLT) Paul says, “Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” With Christ we have died to the things that hold us back, to who we used to be and the things we used to do. We can live new lives in Christ and for Him.
God also gives us the Holy Spirit to help us. Galatians 5:22-23 encourages us, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
With the Holy Spirit living in us, we can be confident in how we live our lives. 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV) reminds us that, “…God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
If you’re in a kamikaze dive like a june bug flapping in the fire, there’s a way out. Ask God to help you. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. Even though it’s not easy, it’s a whole lot easier than going it alone and finding yourself in the fire with no way out.
Trust God, ask Him for help, and remember that living inside you is a spirit of power, love, and self-control!
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