Fruit fly seasons…
My brother sat at the kitchen table as I gathered gear for a golf outing.
Even though he talked to me, his eyes followed something on the other side of the room.
I stopped packing. “What are you lookin’ at?”
“You got gnats.”
“Yeah, I know. Been seeing ‘em for a while now. I have no idea why they’re here or how to get rid of ‘em.”
I continued putting things together and he started snooping around the kitchen.
“Found it!”
“Where?” I said.
He stretched toward the wooden bin labeled “taters ‘n’ onions” while keeping his head back. He threw open the lid and a big swarm of fruit flies flew out.
I slammed the lid down. “Man, that’s nasty.”
He just smiled, clearly glad this was my problem, not his.
Turns out, I’d left a bag of onions in the bottom of the bin too long. The remedy was pretty easy. I got the onions out of the house and gave a quick spray with a kitchen-safe insecticide. Soon the problem was gone.
Have you ever had a spiritual “fruit fly” season? A time where you let one disruption grow into five, then pretty soon you’ve gone dry for weeks?
If I’d taken the time and energy to find the source of my fruit fly problem after seeing the first few sightings, the problem wouldn’t have gotten so large. I wouldn’t have had to endure swatting fruit flies for days. The same can be said for our spiritual disruptions.
It’s easy to allow one small distraction to take our attention away from what we know we should be doing. Maybe you have a plan to have your quiet time first thing in the morning, but when you wake, you realize you’d forgotten to get the trash ready to go out the evening before. While taking care of that, one of your smoke detectors starts chirping.
We all know how long it takes to figure out which one is chirping—right? And, that’s something that can’t wait simply because it’s so irritating. After that, you’re just getting around to making the coffee and you’re all out of sync, and hungry, so you decide to eat. You know you can’t eat and have your quiet time at the same time, so you put off the quiet time.
Once you get busy, you eventually forget you never had your quiet time. And, if you don’t get right back to it the next morning, the habit of spending time with God becomes the habit of not spending time with God.
Sound like I’ve got experience in this area? You bet I do.
And, this is what it might look like if you are retired or work from home. It’s even harder when you’ve got to get to the office early in the morning.
Don’t fall for it. Don’t let either your selfish desires or Satan’s influences take you off track. Nip the spiritual fruit fly infestation in the bud!
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NASB)
Paul, in a letter to his young pastor friend, encouraged Timothy. Paul knew his impending execution would be a blow to believers and especially to young Timothy. An unrolled-out garbage can and a chirping smoke detector are nothing compared to the disruption caused by your spiritual mentor leaving you.
You have hope in the fact that no matter what you face, God has given you a spirit of power, love, and discipline.
You can do it. Submit your will to God’s and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit. He will. It’s His desire.
Let us know what gets you back on track.
