While traveling in the hot summer time, a wasp was deflected off the little side glass pointed toward me and ended up resting on top of my left leg. I looked down and saw it sitting there and thought to myself, “Well, I’ll be! There’s a wasp sitting there on my leg!” I pondered a moment on what I should do and decided, “I’ll just fix him for good.” So I made sure I had good control on the steering wheel and that I was clear of traffic on the road, and I slapped that critter on my leg with a good hard slap to kill him. Much to my surprise, I drove the stinger right into my leg. With angry irritation, I said out loud, “Dadgummit, I stung my own self with that wasp just sitting there!”
So much for murderous vengeance in my heart – it came back to bite me! Isn’t that the way it usually works? We go about getting at somebody and we end up hurting ourselves. These days people don’t know what the Word of God says, and we end up stupidly slapping a stinger into our leg and blame it on God or the devil. We are told in the Word of God that he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 17:15). Tongues waggle on facebook and phones at the drop of a hat before all the facts are ever known, or even cared to be known. Put this with the truth that we will definitely reap what we sow, and we get a not-so-pretty picture (Galations 6:7, 8). It might feel good coming out and make for juicy conversation, but much of what is spoken simply amounts to hard-core slander. If what we are relating is not a fact, it is a spiritual felony to relate it. It is called speaking evil (Ephesians 4:21-32). Then people wonder what hit them. Such sin is an open door to sickness, weakness, despair, depression, and even premature death (1 Corinthians 11:29, 30). Adam and Eve believed and sided with a lie in the Garden and brought trouble on themselves and everybody. First, make sure what you hear and relate is true. Just because a person is a wasp, does not mean we need to be slapping them. Remember, Jesus himself taught us to be careful what we say. Words carry spiritual force. If you’ve got a wasp on your leg, you best brush it off by prayer, forgiveness, and asking God to bring hidden things to light. That does not mean you let people walk on you. It means you keep your heart clear and trust God to deal with them his way. Jesus dealt with evil people to their face and he warned his disciples of them, keeping his focus on God’s will for his own life. If you don’t, you will end up slapping a stinger into your leg.
