Oh to be a Bumblebee

Life isn't black and white, and decisions are really tough. Being a person is hard. That's why I wish I were a bumblebee. 

If I were a bumblebee, life would be easier. Bumblebees have an explicit job in life: to help out the queen. If they feel threatened, they sting whatever they feel is threatening them. If they sting something, they die. It's as simple as that. They aren't hanging around afterwards wondering if they made the right decision and feeling uncomfortable every time they see certain people. Either they sting something and die, or they don't. And if they don't, it's just a matter of time until they do. 

But I'm not a bumblebee. I'm a person. I have to deal with the attributes that come with being a person: having eyebrows, eating cookies, learning psychology, etc. However, here's a benefit to being a human: the chances of me being squashed by an angry person are much, much lower than they would be if I were a bee. 

Still, decisions are hard to make and that makes me feel miserable sometimes. Any decision I could make comes with endless consequences that will follow me for an indefinite amount of time after a decision is made. 

And so I'm jealous of bees. If I were a bee, I would get to spend most of my time with flowers and then I would be colorful and happy and smell good all the time. I would get to contribute to honey-making in a major way. I would know that I was needed by the colony, and I would know how to do my job. I would never feel aimless or unsure of how to go about things if I were a bee, because each bee only has one job. Humans would be afraid of me which, in a way, would give me control over them (until they squished me).

I know that I don't get to be a bee, I get to be a person. And so, in trying to encourage myself in this, I have decided that I do get to contribute as part of a huge community, only in this community we don't make honey: we make disciples. My most important job daily is to praise my King, in all the ways that I can: in waking and sleeping, in eating and fasting, in walking and running. I do all of those, but not at the same time.

Bees have wings and I don't, and that's another point of contention for me. It would be really neat to be able to fly. It would certainly be much less expensive than riding in airplanes. 

Jesus has wings, and in the Psalms, it is mentioned over and over again that we are safe in the shadow of His wings. I am used to singing that in church but one day I read it and realized how amazing it is. By not even touching His wings, but being in the shadow of them, just being near to them gives me safety. He is so holy. I would rather be safe under His wings than to have my own and not know how to work them. 

And so, I must conclude that I should live the life I was called to live instead of the life of a bumblebee. Take one look at me and you can tell that I can't be a bee. I'm much too big and I don't buzz nearly enough. I also own more pairs of shoes than the average bee.

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1 that I am to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called," and I have been called to a life that entails me doing more than buzzing around. I have been given a brain that is bigger than that of a bee's, and the things that I can do for God's kingdom are so much more numerous and in-depth than what a bee can do. So I will rejoice in that and lean on Christ to get me through my days.

Love,
Lauralicious