Just after a friend had introduced me to the concept of “God in all things,” I found myself at a lake outside the city, picking up my daughter from summer camp. I am not an “outdoorsy” person by any stretch, and I was finding the morning rather challenging. I had already lost a hot dog to a wasp that was flying around bullying me for my lunch, and then the mosquitoes came out. Mosquitoes love me, and I was getting eaten alive. In my frustration, I found myself thinking of the discussion I had the day before with my friend. “God is in everything and everyone,” he counseled me. “You just have to find Him.” Feeling puckish, I took out my phone and texted him: “I can’t find God in mosquitoes.”
My friend got me started thinking about where God is in mosquitoes, but I let it sit with me and I still think about it today, years later. We tend to find God more readily in the beauty of this earth and in the good things that happen to us. I think we struggle more to find God in the everyday nuisances like mosquitoes—like children who keep losing things, bad traffic, or an irritating co-worker. It seems as though the harder life gets or the darker the moment, the more challenging it is to find God within it.
Why do we tend to put God outside of bad experiences and dark moments, even though that’s where we need God most? God keeps faith forever, though, so I know He is undoubtedly in those moments, even when we fail to recognise Him. It’s when we do recognise God in the nuisances and in the darker times that we can find greater comfort and strength to get through those moments. If we can learn to find God in the not-so-great every day, perhaps it will build our trust that God is with us when things are really looking bleak.
And maybe that’s where God is in mosquitoes.
I was thinking about this at 2:00am. As I am ferociously scratching my mosquito bite. How can God make creatures that suck your blood? A while back I researched out of curiosity that female mosquitoes only feed on blood. They need it for their eggs to be fertile. As I was still scratching it dawned on me. God says there is life in the blood; it’s his life that resides there. Now I could be wrong. But the fact that these bugs need our blood. Also, shows the order in which God has made us to be in. Hope you all feel the same. GOD BLESS!
So, how did you find God in the mosquito?
Cara’s article is an invitation to zoom out to the larger mosquitoes in daily life and helped me see them as such. I do believe that acceptance of a difficult situation is not a call to not do anything about it, but to do what needs to be done in peace. P.S. I do swat mosquitoes 🙂
Read this just as i am going through a period when i am feeling my blood is being sucked out by situations. It has helped me to let the mosquitoes settle. And to remember Rom 8:28 in my heart.
It is when we are are weak that we are strong , thanks for a another way of saying the same thing .
I’m in wonderful Pahokee, FL where we’re on the tag and release program for mosquitoes. You can’t swat them, only subdue ’em.
Hounded inside by the mosquitos last night, I love this question. How can I find God in the pesky things? Thank you!
Wasn’t God in the suffering on the Cross?
God is Love and Spirit.
We see God in the respect that we have for the mosquitos when we see the miracle of flight. We see God in creation and nature and the wonder of little wings and life. And even when we don’t see God in the blood sucking little predators we see God in the air beneath their wings :O)))
I am from the coast of Maine, where mosquitoes are considered the state bird. I am also a mystic. And as a girl, growing up, my visions were a training on seeing God in everything. Why does one church serve wine at communion, when another doesn’t allow alcohol in any form? Answer: it’s all God. Well, I’m fairly strong-minded, and I kept at it, day after day. And the one thing where I would not budge was mosquitoes. How can mosquitoes be God? Finally, the answer: Julia, if you can find the sound of God in the buzz of a mosquito, you can find it anywhere. One of my favorite visions of all time.
Great article!! I’ll try to remember this when the skeeters come out again. Guessing by the swarms here in deep South Texas, my neighborhood must be TRULY BLEST with God’s presence!! Ha, ha!!
Thanks for sharing. So true! We can so easily forget the God we know in beauty when we are suffering or annoyed. But the effort and patience in looking for God in these more difficult times actually has a more lasting influence in our faith journey, and brings us strength and peace.
What a reflection!!
I liked when you say that we use to relate God´s presence only in good times. Many christian communities explicitily believe it and teach it that way.
The “not-so-good” situations in life, become the greatest chances to find and experience God´s loving presence and patience inside ourselves. Thanks for sharing!
No swatting!