Sparkling Beetles!
Psalm 119:105”Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Sunday morning as I was praying and preparing for the church service, God suddenly brought to my memory the ‘sparkling beetles’ that I saw in my childhood days, in the hilly area of Kodaikanal, a small hilly home town where I used to spend my summer holidays. These ‘sparkling beetles’ produce a constant light in many different colors – from green all the way to orange depending on the species – in two spots in the front looking like headlights and one below its abdomen. The headlights glow so intensely that they can be spotted over a hundred feet away, they also make a buzzing noise; the buzzing noise and the sparkling light in the thick bushes makes the place both eerie and lovely in the night! A trek uphill in the chilly mountain air, being far from the madding crowd, the unspoilt scenic beauty remains etched in one’s memory for a long time!
My grandpa’s home was nestled in the midst of thick shrubs of plants and fruit orchard, I remember as we silently traipsed the quietness of the night to enjoy the scenic beauty, that makes a perfect visual for an artiste! During the day the aroma of Eucalyptus, the chirping of the birds and the serene beauty was quite mesmerizing, in the night the sparkling light emitted by the beetles and the buzzing noise of the beetles simply dazzles your eyes! Even after many decades, I still remember them! My mom would explain about the light and the noise of the beetles and I would hear them with awe! However, as a preacher and writer now, I connect it for different reasons; I have come to understand that the bulb light on the forehead of those tiny beetles were given by God to warn their predators and to find their path in the darkness of the night and also to find their mates. How thoughtful God had been to fix those bulbs on their foreheads so that they don’t have to grope blindly in the dark. When God was so mindful of the beetles, would He not care more for us? Tell me. I am speaking to someone one out there who is confused about making a decision for their marriage, job, future, business and relationship.
Did not God say,”I AM THE LIGHT OF THIS WORLD!” Glory to Jesus! Involve Him in your life, and read His Word every day, the Bible says His Word is a light to your path and a lamp to your feet. People flounder and wander because they ignore HIS WORD! You might wonder: Would God speak through His Word? How can I know His will? How do I recognize His voice? You know what, I was able to see the lovely sparkling light and hear the buzz of the beetles when I chose to close other activities in my life. Close your ears and eyes to the world in order to hear the whisper of God! The Light would warn you when you speak to the wrong person, when you go the wrong route, when you take the wrong job and when you speak harsh words! Jesus said: ”Blessed are the eyes that see!
In the month of march, 2009, I heard the voice of God command me to go to a city called Hyderabad, where the language and culture were totally different from the city where we lived. Only I heard His voice! God spoke this after we spent a decade ministering in the present city; this relocation would immensely affect our children who were in crucial stages of education; however, I was firm and unshaken because I heard the crystal clear voice of the Lord. One young man asked me, ‘how could you so precisely select ‘Hyderabad’ from the 29 states of India? I replied: ‘I heard His voice!’ You get to hear His voice through hard exercise of fasting, praying and reading His Word in a disciplined manner. I hope I’m helping someone out there with this Word. God bless you.
