You, The Fly
It happened to me one spring when the weather turned warm. I was driving around just enjoying the weather when I noticed I had an uninvited passenger on the window outside my car. Maybe he was just buzzing around looking for a good meal and found something that looked interesting on my windshield. Maybe he just needed to take a break and rest his six legs and my car was the closest spot. Maybe the common housefly just thinks I have a really sweet ride and wanted to check it out when I was near. Whatever his motivation, Mr. Fly had come to rest on my vehicle.
I dont' know how you feel about having a fly sitting on your windshield looking in at you, but I don't love bugs, and when there are bugs sitting on my car I want them off. So I did what anyone else in my situation would have done; I put the pedal to the metal to shake him off. As I'm speeding up I imagine the fly feeling like one of those guys in action movies who jumps onto the hood of the car that the bad guy is using to escape the scene of the crime while the bad guy speeds up, swerves left and right and side-swipes other cars in an attempt to shake him. I watch the fly as I enter onto the interstate and begin going faster. 45...50...60...65...70? He's still there?! I'm pushing 75 miles per hour and this fly, shaking and quivering in the roaring wind, is still hanging on to my windshield for dear life! I finally gave up and pulled off at the next exit.
When I got the stop sign at the top of the exit ramp I got out and shooed him off. I imagine he was a little disoriented from the terror of the experience when he found himself miles from where he came (what is the equivalent of a mile to a fly...50 miles?). I, on the other hand, got back into my car and went to get a milkshake.
We all buzz around trying to make sense of our lives, trying to qualify and categorize our experiences into something that has purpose and meaning. We usually try to fit things into our vision of how the world should be. We label people and assign value to them based on what meaning they bring into our lives. We fold up our experiences and put them into the appropriate folders: Life Lesson, Bad Luck, Coincidence, Fate. We alphabetize our knowledge by category: True, False, Important, Trivia, Myth, Read it on the Internet.
But sometimes we land on something that is just too big for us to move. It is too vast for us to understand, too complex for us to puzzle out. When this happens, when we are confronted with something that is just too much for us to fully make sense of, we have a choice. We can either fly away, searching for our next meal, or we can hold on for dear life and wait to see where this behemoth is going to take us. The question is this: Are you content to fly back and forth between the things that you can easily control and explain, always avoiding the thing that can neither be reigned in or simplified, or are you going to hold on for the ride? See where it takes you? See if this greater thing has bigger meaning for your life?
What does this mean? You are the fly. God is the car. When you hold on for dear life to the one you cannot quantify, change or control, He will take you for a ride. And the destination is always planned out specifically for you. It is always good. Are you willing to hold on?
I dont' know how you feel about having a fly sitting on your windshield looking in at you, but I don't love bugs, and when there are bugs sitting on my car I want them off. So I did what anyone else in my situation would have done; I put the pedal to the metal to shake him off. As I'm speeding up I imagine the fly feeling like one of those guys in action movies who jumps onto the hood of the car that the bad guy is using to escape the scene of the crime while the bad guy speeds up, swerves left and right and side-swipes other cars in an attempt to shake him. I watch the fly as I enter onto the interstate and begin going faster. 45...50...60...65...70? He's still there?! I'm pushing 75 miles per hour and this fly, shaking and quivering in the roaring wind, is still hanging on to my windshield for dear life! I finally gave up and pulled off at the next exit.
When I got the stop sign at the top of the exit ramp I got out and shooed him off. I imagine he was a little disoriented from the terror of the experience when he found himself miles from where he came (what is the equivalent of a mile to a fly...50 miles?). I, on the other hand, got back into my car and went to get a milkshake.
We all buzz around trying to make sense of our lives, trying to qualify and categorize our experiences into something that has purpose and meaning. We usually try to fit things into our vision of how the world should be. We label people and assign value to them based on what meaning they bring into our lives. We fold up our experiences and put them into the appropriate folders: Life Lesson, Bad Luck, Coincidence, Fate. We alphabetize our knowledge by category: True, False, Important, Trivia, Myth, Read it on the Internet.
But sometimes we land on something that is just too big for us to move. It is too vast for us to understand, too complex for us to puzzle out. When this happens, when we are confronted with something that is just too much for us to fully make sense of, we have a choice. We can either fly away, searching for our next meal, or we can hold on for dear life and wait to see where this behemoth is going to take us. The question is this: Are you content to fly back and forth between the things that you can easily control and explain, always avoiding the thing that can neither be reigned in or simplified, or are you going to hold on for the ride? See where it takes you? See if this greater thing has bigger meaning for your life?
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for
good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
What does this mean? You are the fly. God is the car. When you hold on for dear life to the one you cannot quantify, change or control, He will take you for a ride. And the destination is always planned out specifically for you. It is always good. Are you willing to hold on?
posted by Chris at
11:49 AM
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