Christ First Forum

Lightning Bugs


What is the deal with lightning bugs? I mean, here is this rather ordinary looking flying insect, but wait. . .it has a glow-in-the-dark rear end! What was God thinking?

I'm sure science has all kinds of explanations about how this fluorescent fanny is useful for mating and other stuff, but why did God choose to make the lightning bug glow? I wonder if when God was creating all the animals and everything around us, He came up with the idea of the lightning bug and said, "the kids are gonna love this."

We know that God loves us enough to create all the things we need to survive, but does God love us so much He created some things just to make us smile?

Just seeing lightning bugs takes me back to those warm summer nights of my youth. I'd be running around the back yard with my empty mason jar, racing toward the flashing lights all around me. I can still feel the joy and hear the laughter echoing through my memories. Lightning bugs were as much a part of summer as fireworks, fresh tomatoes, and big ice-cold slabs of juicy watermelon. (I also have a theory of why God created watermelon seeds the perfect size to spit, but that's another story.)

God created so much diversity in this world, much more than is needed for mere survival. He made all of this for us and He wants us to enjoy it.

We can get so busy surrounding ourselves with man-made goods that we don't notice the tapestry God has laid out all around us.

I guess lightning bugs do have a purpose after all. They are a reminder of a creative God who loves us so much, He'd even paint the rear end of a bug. . .just to see us smile.

Author Unknown
Submitted by Richard