Tip of My Iceberg

With warmer weather, we buy more fruit for the kids; it sits in baskets so they can grab and go.

Unless they’re weary of that produce. The fruit becomes an open invitation for fruit flies to feast.

They appear out of nowhere; their sole purpose is to irritate everyone in the house.

I’ve been quite annoyed by the presence of these small exasperating bugs. They’re everywhere in the kitchen. Too small for fly swatters and too quick to just smash with my hands, I’ve been perplexed as to how to deal with them. I’ve whined about their existence more times than anyone wanted to hear.

We googled what to do with fruit flies. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?

Several methods were suggested. Some needed more materials than I had handy; others required more work than I wanted to commit to. The easy one was pouring apple cider vinegar in the bottom of the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, secure it with duct tape, and poke holes in the wrap big enough for the little buggers to get through.

I prepped my bowl, placed it in the middle of the island where the produce had been, and waited. Rather like a watched pot. Bugs hovered over the bowl, but none really dared enter.

Were my fruit flies too smart?

In the morning, success met my wondering eyes with plenty of the little guys now expired in the vinegar or unable to get out of their plastic-wrapped prison.

I felt no sadness over their demise.

Such a simple solution that worked isn’t always the way life rolls out for me.

I can only wish.

There’s something very satisfying about the containment of my problems. Having them understood, with specific parameters, where I can observe and deal with them. Out-of-control issues aren’t fun. They leave me without a plan, and proceeding forward may be problematic. Out of my comfort zone.

Life doesn’t fall to us in easily controlled lines and spaces. Managing all our life circumstances as if they were on a spreadsheet is a dream, a myth. Personal resources are limited, and we don’t know all we need to know to handle all we need to handle. Containing my problems in a workable way may help in the short term, but it’s guaranteed that something will throw off my plans and I’m left without hope.

But God.

He is the One who knows everything all the time because He isn’t limited by time and space. Our entire lives are known by him before even one day has passed. And He offers His presence and power to us to deal with the messiness and pain of life and all of its unpredictability.

I can’t prep my life in a way that limits my problems to what I can fit in a container. Life is unwieldy and unpredictable.

God expands my capacity to deal with life by His presence and power. He loves to love me well, and in His love, I have security and hope.

That’s not containment.

God holds us in His Enough to walk with us in our needs.

That’s freedom.