Lessons from Mealy Bugs

​How did a colony of mealy bugs end up infesting my orchid plants?  This is the question of the week that I had to answer.  When I bring a new houseplant into my collection, I check it for bugs.  Apparently, when I brought in a new orchid plant for my window shelf, I did not look carefully enough.  Attached to the base of the underside of one of the flowers was a white, cottony speck.  Since its color matched the flower, it slipped in without my seeing it.  Female mealy bugs lay up to 500 eggs in a sac that is attached to the plant.  In the case of my orchid, she went to work by embedding her sac of eggs at the juncture of the leaves.  One leaf overlays the other in a whorl, and it is easy to tuck a miniscule sac that looks like dust into the leaf juncture so that it is undetected.
 
All I had to do was allow one bug in with my collection of orchids.  They slowly began to travel from plant to plant.  I noticed that several of the orchid leaves were looking deformed and that their tissues were beginning to break down.  The infestation was so bad that I could not save my plants, and I had to do a complete cleansing of the trays they sat on.  It was interesting for me to see that the violets that sit with them were not touched.  Violet foliage is very "hairy" and unappealing to the bugs.  One of my violets I have had since the early seventies.  I am so please that it continues to "stand its ground" and grow.
 
There is an analogy in this scenario for all of us.  We must not let our guards down.  "Be alert and of sober mind.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing in the faith..." (1 Peter 5:8-9)  I believe that the enemy has targeted the United States for destruction as this nation was founded on godly principles and is meant to be a land where people worship the Lord, grow in His ways, and share their faith with the world.  The devil is shrewd.  He did not come in full force with guns blazing but slowly infiltrated our lives so that he could eventually take over. Souls of individuals are being invaded, one by one.  But we must not be naive about what is at stake. There is a global agenda to remove all traces of Christianity.
 
I grew up in a time that seems so innocent compared with today.  One example is that stores were closed on Sundays (Blue Laws) and families spent time with one another.  Sunday was a day dedicated to God.  How quickly all that has changed.  There has been a war on the very fabric of our nation.  Slowly, things have changed until we look around and say, "How did we get here?"  The "bug" has laid her eggs and attacked our culture so that it is unrecognizable.  The family is broken, abortion is sanctioned, our God-given identities are questioned, lifestyles that permit sexual promiscuity and perversion are celebrated, moral values have been redefined, education of our children has taken a wrong turn as liberal teachers attempt to control their minds, liberalism has permeated the church, and the very foundation upon which our nation was built is being destroyed.  We have allowed the enemy's agenda to take over by compromising and being complacent as we watch the fabric of our nation being shredded.
 
So, what is the bottom line?  We cannot allow complacency or compromise.  God has fit us for battle.  He chose to bring heaven to earth through a people dedicated to Him.  Each of us needs to be a light in the darkness.  We must take a stand and fight for what is right in God's eyes.  We must declare, "Not on my watch!"  God calls us to intercessory prayer as we take the authority He has given to us in the name of Jesus.  It is time for us to put on our battle gear and follow the ways of Jesus to destroy the works of the devil.  We must be like violets standing against the mealy bugs.  We must see ourselves as warriors and release the Word of God over our lives, our homes, our country, and the world.  Here is the apostle Paul's advice:  "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:3-5)  We must be vigilant, prepared to go to battle with the truth of God's word, the love of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. The victory is ours if we follow through!