We live in a neighborhood where it isn’t a matter of IF you’ll see a bear but only a matter of WHEN. One day a few years back we saw SEVEN bears in one day. We’ve since stopped putting out birdseed and that’s cut down on the traffic.
Fall is a busy time for bears with lots of good things to eat like apples, grapes, acorns, hickory nuts and . . . bees!
Yup, one of my favorite things about bears is that they raid hives not only for honey, but to eat the larvae of wasps, jellow jackets and other serious stingers. Once, I suggested ridding our yard of an in-ground hive by opening the gate at night and leaving a trail of bear tempting food to it. Surely a bear would dig the hive out and make a meal of it. My husband felt that bears in the yard wasn’t a good trade for bees in the yard. Oh well.
On more than one occasion we’ve seen bears stop by covered in yellow jackets. The stinging insects swarm around them trying to penetrate that thick, thick fur. Which they can’t. BUT, bees can sting the bears on their faces and the tips of their ears resulting in lots of head swiping.
Apparently, bears have a natural resistance to bee stings.
How cool is that? God gave them a food source and blessed them with the ability to tolerate the uh, downside, of pursuing that source. They crave bee larvae and are willing to tolerate the resulting stings.
I think there’s a lesson in that for me. What do I have a heart-longing for that results in stings? The sting of rejection. The sting of failure. The sting of unfulfilled dreams.
Romans 5:1-5 – Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
What stings are you willing to tolerate in your life in order to pursue your dreams?
