Daily Nugget: Roach Infestation!
In our earlier years of marriage, my wife and I moved into a new house that we had painstakingly searched for before settling on this one that truly met our needs at the time. My wife was expectant and we wanted a more spacious house with enough bedrooms to accommodate a stay-in house maid. We also wanted a lawn or compound for our children to play in. This house matched our expectations and was beautiful; truly an answered prayer for us! It even had a large open kitchen with ample cabinets much to the delight of my wife.
However, we inherited a tiny little problem, or so we thought when we moved in; Every Time we opened the kitchen cabinets there would be hundreds of little cockroaches scampering for safety. We didn’t think much of that problem, and as we were moving in my wife got a can of insecticide and we presumed that that would suffice to solve it. But we were terribly mistaken! We soon realized that this beautiful home had a serious roach infestation. The little bugs morphed into much bigger ones that infiltrated all the other rooms within no time! Having exhausted several insecticide cans, we realized that no amount of insecticide would get rid of these annoying bugs. It even got embarrassing when some daring cockroaches would boldly crawl into the living room while we were having guests!
These bugs reminded me of the extra terrestrial invaders in the movie series “Men in Black” that manifested as giant cockroaches. Just like Agent Kay and Agent Jay in the movie, my wife and I had to do something fast to contain the invaders! We contracted the services of a “Pest Exterminator” who came and tamed the menace. Within a few days of his treatment, there was no cockroach in sight in the whole house. He even gave us a 1 year guarantee of being roach free; a status we still enjoyed many years down the line!
Every time I think about this episode, I recall a question we often discussed as kids, especially after attending Sunday School sessions where we were taught the “Creation Story”. We would ask ourselves this question; “Much as God created the Lion, the giraffe and humans, did He also create mosquitoes, flies and cockroaches?” Why on earth would He create such annoying creatures?!
Later on, when studying biology, I came to understand that every organism has an important part to play in the overall ecosystem. Removing one organism ends up creating an imbalance in that ecosystem. For example, flies are very important because their ‘disgusting’ young ones called maggots help in speeding up the decomposition process of dead organisms. This in turn provides much needed nutrients that soils require for healthy plant growth. Same thing applies to those annoying cockroaches; they are said to be great recyclers of decaying matter, which they also convert into useful nutrients.
I guess one other usefulness of cockroaches that may not be biological, is that their presence in our homes is often an indicator that we are not cleaning our houses properly; and are leaving food particles on floors and tables. In a similar way, the presence of body parasites like lice on a person, is an indicator that that person needs to practice better hygiene and grooming.
Back to our Sunday school questions, another common one asked by a lot of kids is “Why did God create Satan?” Even as grown ups, we struggle to understand why God still allows the devil and his demons to exist in our world to tempt and oppress people. It is just an indicator that we as Christians need to continually practice “Spiritual Hygiene” to prevent full-blown infestation by demonic forces. We need to be alert and keep close to God, carefully studying and obeying His Word.
So any time we find our hearts starting to get infested with sinful desires, it’s time we employ the “pest exterminator” – AKA Holy Spirit; to help us get rid of such evil desires. Regardless of the amount of spiritual infestation (sin) a person already has; there is no amount of sin that the blood of Jesus cannot clean! The following bible verses should guide us:
Isaiah 1:16-17 – Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. – NIV
Isaiah 1:18 – “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. – NKJV
Galatians 5:16-21 – So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. – NIV
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. – NKJV
