Now you may be wonering why I named this blog Bugs in the Peanut
Butter. Was it because there were actually bugs in the peanut butter?
Nope none at all. The real reason is because of a lesson that God
showed me, and because I wanted a catchy title. Peanut butter right
now is something that reminds me of home because it is something that
we eat here a lot and it is something I also eat in America;
therefore, peanut butter is comfort right now. When there is a bug in
my peanut butter it isn't so comforting anymore. God is kinda the same
way. When we are groovin' with God, reading the Word all the time, and
in a growing relationship with Him, there is comfort (a.k.a. the
peanut butter). But when there are hard times (a.k.a. the bug) and we
run away from God, that comfort seems to be gone. God showed me this
lesson through a young boy named Carlos.
One evening I was playing with the kids at church before dinner. I was
wearing a white shirt and a black pair of basketball shorts. There was
a group of about four boys that I was playing around with and we were
having a great time. Then Carlos decided to climb on my back. Remember
the white shirt I told you I was wearing? Well because there is dirt
everywhere here, the back of my shirt was no longer white. The other
kids started telling me that the back of my shirt was dirty, so I
jokingly turned to Carlos and said did you get my back dirty? He
immediately hit his knees and said "Please don't beat me!" My heart
was broken in this moment. Why would I beat him? Because he got my
shirt dirty? It's just a shirt. That thought never even crossed my
mind. I was taken back for a minute. I realized I had to show him
love. After a while of coaxing him to come close enough to me, I put
his hand in mine and I said "Carlos, I will never beat you. I am your
friend and I love you."
The thing about this story is it isn't too far from our relationships
with God. We are fine with God and are having such a good time with
him, and then we mess up. Instead of running to him for comfort like
we should, we run away and stop taking our problems to him, and the
relationship dwindles. In reality, God is saying, I don't care what
you have done, I will never beat you. Jesus has already paid the price
for you. We lose sight of this so much of the time.
Earlier when I was talking about the peanut butter, I left something
out. That is that when it gets a bug in it, the peanut butter is still
there, the comfort is still there. We just choose not to see is as
comfortable anymore because we are scared of it. God is always there,
we are just too ashamed to go to him.
"Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of
these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13
