Lovebugs and People

As I swept all the bothersome little creatures from outside the door, patio, and inside the house, I remembered this article I wrote a couple of years ago:

God didn’t create lovebugs (or other pesky insects) as pests; they became bothersome after the fall of humanity. Is there anything good about lovebugs since then? They don’t bite or sting; they feed at night on dead vegetation, redistributing nutrients back into the ground, and adult lovebugs live only a few days. But they swarm and seem to be everywhere—what an aggravation!

People can be annoying like lovebugs, at every turn and sometimes in your face. Like it or not, I sometimes annoy others and even aggravate myself. And you can also be irritating. God didn’t design this human tendency; our bent to do wrong nurtures it. We may have learned annoyance as a child; it may have developed from being rejected or hurt; it may be a tool to garner attention or purposefully irritate someone. But sometimes, annoying others is a silent cry for attention. 

Can any good come from annoyance? When God allows the same bothersome people to cross your path, it’s for a purpose: He wants you to pray for them. What if He chose you as the friend desperately needed, someone to listen and show patience and kindness? God chose you to point them to Him. But what if God used those irritating people to help you realize you have been annoying? An annoying personality will not draw others to God’s love and saving grace. 

Lovebugs don’t intentionally harm or irritate others; they are how God created them. The same God made us with reasoning to choose good or evil, and He holds us accountable for our behavior. Purposefully irritating others, interjecting a good “jab,” excusing it with, “I was just kidding,” or taking part in conversations with intentions to annoy, hurt, or falsely accuse are unacceptable. The mouth speaks from what’s in one’s heart. One day, unless God forgives, we will answer to our Maker for every meaningless, hurtful, and harmful word, regardless of our reasons.

“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36)