My home here in Zambia is located in an area known as Moth- because (when the power is on) as the sun sets, numerous moths circle light sources. One night I was waiting for dinner to finish cooking and watched as a dragon fly joined the moths. It touched a light bulb and made a sizzling sound as it got burned. Briefly, it moved away and rested on the ceiling, but it kept circling back. It eventually died, holding fast near the source of its demise.
Have you heard the phrase "like a moth to the flame"? We use it to refer to someone seemingly irresistibly drawn to something that is hurting them. From the outside, we see the obvious implications. But like a child desperately reaching for another sweet, the moth sees only the object of its desire.
What struck me most about that moment was this- a dragonfly is not a moth. It looked out of place among it's smaller companions. But it died anyway. As Christians, we don't belong in the crowd of this world chasing after things that don't satisfy us. We have tasted of living water. Yet, how often can we be found circling the lightbulbs of this world? Friends, if you are a dragonfly, live like one. Skim along the quiet streams of God's Word. Don't use your time here coming again and again to the thing that hurts you. Psalm 84:11 says, "No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." If God hasn't given me something, either I'm not walking uprightly aligned with His will, or it's not good for me/ not good for me right now. We can certainly trust the one who knows us best with our desires.
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