A Praying Mantis

Do not put me in the same category as Henry David Thoreau who watched and wrote about the epic battle of the ants, but I have been prone to stop and watch some of God's creatures that usually go unnoticed.   Today while weeding a flower bed around the house, I saw a Praying Mantis climbing up the air conditioning unit beside me.  It was hot.  I was sweating.  While I was not looking for a distraction, I certainly was in a mood to welcome one.  The Praying Mantis gave me an opportunity to stop my work and watch it work as it climbed the side grill toward the top.

 

For a stick creature who was mostly legs, it moved fairly fast as one leg after another reached for something to wrap around.  When it got just below the top surface, the journey upward ran into a snag.  The top of the air conditioning unit was smooth.  It was solid.  It had no rough edges.  Every time one of those green legs went up and over the top, it slid off the smooth surface.  I watched a long time as it tried to crest the top, but it was a futile and unsuccessful struggle. 

 

I wondered, "Would God dare speak through a Praying Mantis?"  In the moment it surely seemed that the green and awkward creature was crafting holy words for me to hear.  Rough places can be used to help us climb upward.  When the going is smooth and easy and life is empty of rough edges, going upward does not happen.  It is the rough places that enable us to move upward toward whatever it is that God has planned for us in our journey toward Him.  Instead of viewing the rough spots in life as hindrances and obstacles in the journey, maybe God has a different view.  Just maybe He is using them to help me get where I would never be able to get without them.