How many times do I have to flip you back over?
This little gal or fella, whatever the case may be, (sometimes it’s hard to tell with ladybugs) is in trouble again. I found her flipped upside down in a puddle of water in my bathroom sink. In reality, the puddle is not much more than a drop of standing water, maybe 2 inches wide but it’s Lake Erie to her. I found her upside down, legs kicking aimlessly into the air, giving it hell…. trying to get right side up. It was certain death. But then, an unexpected element entered her world. Me.
Little ole me. Nothing special. I didn’t set out this morning to save a life but here I was faced with it. I could have rinsed her down the drain and just finished her off quickly but as I watched her struggle, I was moved with compassion. She’s just doing her best in life. Like the rest of us. I flip her over and scoot her out of the water. I trust that she will finish the rest. Thanks to the half a pot of coffee I drank this morning, I’m back in the bathroom within the hour. There is my little friend, upside down and back in the great water puddle. I shake my head and laugh. She’s having one of those days. I’ve had plenty of them. I flip her over and scoot her out of the water. I trust she will finish the rest.
On my next trip to the bathroom, guess what? You guessed it. This spotted princess is back in the water yet again. Only this time she isn’t upside down. She has managed to remain right side up. I watch her for a few minutes. This time there is no struggle. She isn’t moving much at all. She has completely given up. She has lost all resolve to live and seems to have accepted her watery grave. Should I help her again? Maybe I should just let her learn her lesson.
I think about my life. I think about the times I have made the same mistake over and over and over. I have ended up on my back in puddles that I was helpless to overcome. But someone bigger than me came along and flipped me right side up and scooted me out of the water. And He did it again. And again. And again. And how many times I let myself slide right back into that puddle because sliding down was easier than climbing out. How many times it would have been easier to give up. But even when I gave up on myself, someone else was there to scoot me out of my mess.
This time I pick her up and dry her with a square of two-ply and sit her on the ground under the shelf where she will be protected. From there she can decide what she wants to do with her life. She is just a ladybug. And she may not even be a she. She may be a he or an it but she has worth. She was created and put on this planet. Just like you and I were created and put on this planet. She was not an accident. Neither are we. I decided her life was worth saving. Someone decided that about me too. I’m thankful. And even though she can’t express it, I’m sure she is too.
I wonder if God looked at me today and wondered, “How many times do I have to flip you back over?”