Friend Or Foe

a devotional for summer

Dear Readers, Happy August!

Thank you for being flexible with my experiment last Thursday of using Substack’s cross-posting feature to share this collaboration with

Kristin Haakenson

!

The cross-posting feature still has a few bugs to work out, sounds like, but I hope if you were able to see the post that you enjoyed it, and maybe checked out Kristin’s other work, too!

Blessings on your August, and on with the devotional!

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Photo by Ingo Doerrie on Unsplash

there is a fellowship of saints
hiding in plain sight
among the least of these, 

the wicked stings
the giant eyes
the buzzing wings

and when I wonder 
which is friend
and which is foe,

the Creator smiles and whispers:
give only love to those below;
all the rest is for Me to know.

There are paper wasps living in our greenhouse. In fact, every year for the last few years they’ve taken up residence there, crawling in through an exterior gap into a space where a bustling community exists in the wall, unseen.

I don’t bother with them, largely because they have never bothered with me. Paper wasps are among the group of stripey, sting-bearing insects that get blamed for the transgressions of others in their type. While yellow jackets and hornets will bite and sting seemingly for no reason, and ground bees often throw themselves at an innocent passerby who had no idea there were vast nests underfoot, paper wasps are relatively docile, especially away from their nests. While they will protect themselves or their homes if provoked, they don’t go out of their way to find trouble. Researchers have even reported that in lab settings, with nothing to defend, wasps are a downright pleasure to work with, even amiable.

Additionally, wasps are quite beneficial insects. Not as “cute” and marketable as bees, they nevertheless mostly eat nectar as adults and spend their days pollinating flowers and fruit trees. When they do eat a more carnivorous diet—mainly to feed their young—they target caterpillars, the ones that often destroy leafy plants. A true friend to the gardener, despite their fearsome looks!

Whenever I see the paper wasps buzzing busily in and out of the greenhouse, it reminds me that I am the worst judge of who around me is friend or foe. I bring my judgments and biases to every encounter. I jump to conclusions. I withhold grace. It happens more often than I like to admit.

Even so, the command given to me is clear as can be: Show love. Share compassion. Extend grace. Let God take care of the rest.

Beyond that exists the knowledge that only God knows. But if we trust that He Is Who He Says He Is, our call to gracious, generous living—even with the most misunderstood of His creatures—will never be misplaced.

And we may even find friends where we feared we would find enemies.

Discussion Question:

In what unexpected places has God been calling you to show grace, lately? With a person, with a situation, with yourself…? And how have you reacted to that call?

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