A Little Bit of Faith and Photography

I have a love hate relationship with bees. I love to photograph them but I hate being stung by them.

Photographing bees can be somewhat difficult. They are very fast when moving from flower to flower. You have to have a fast enough shudder speed and your camera needs to have a fast burst spend to catch interesting wing movements.

Bees are such fascinating creatures. My Heavenly Father created bees with the specific task of gathering pollen to pollinate flowers. Delicate wings perfectly formed furry bodies. I like to use a macro lens that allows me to get closer to see how they have been wonderfully created. I haven’t taken a lot of time to photograph bees (As seen by my lack of bee images) because I am always looking for something else. Now that I have a garden and have planted many bee friendly plants, I hope to spend more time with them.

How can I be like a bee? I can be like a bee and spread the gospel like a bee that gathers pollen in order to pollinate flowers or I can use my words like the stinger of a bee!

I remember the first time I was stung by a bee. I was running barefoot in my front yard, and I stepped on that pesky bee. I screamed bloody murder as the pain shot up my leg and my foot became swollen. The next time I stepped on two bees, on the same foot during the same week.

Did you know that honeybees and bumble bees use their stingers strictly for defense? Bees that are away from the hive foraging will rarely sting unless they are stepped on or unnecessarily aggravated. (beespotter.org) And did you know that when a female honeybee stings a person, it cannot pull the barbed stinger back out, but rather leaves behind not only the stinger, but also part of its abdomen and digestive tract, plus muscles and nerves. This massive abdominal rupture kills the honeybee. Honey bees are the only bees to die after stinging. (Wikipedia)

Our words can cause as much pain or more as a bee sting. The sting of the bee will eventually subside along with the skin irritation, but the sting of words can have a long-lasting detrimental effect on the recipient.

Words are so powerful that God spoke the universe into existence. John 1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

We are made in God’s image, and our words also have power. To be clear, our words do not have the power to manifest reality. But our words do more than convey information; they have an impact on people. The power of our words can burden one’s spirit, even stir up hatred and violence. Words can exacerbate wounds and inflict them directly. Alternately, words can build up and be life-giving (Proverbs 18:21; Ephesians 4:29; Romans 10:14–15). Of all the creatures on this planet, we are the only ones who have the ability to communicate through the spoken word. The power to use words is a unique and powerful gift from God.

Our words have the power to destroy and the power to build up (Proverbs 12:6). King Saul tells us, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). Are we using words to build up people or destroy them? Are they being filled with hate or love, bitterness or blessing, complaining or compliments, lust or love, victory or defeat? Words are tools that can make life better, but any tool can be misused.

Did you know that our words are so important that we are going to give an account of what we say when we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus said, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36–37).

The apostle Paul wrote, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). The Greek word translated “unwholesome” means “rotten” or “foul” and originally referred to rotten fruit and vegetables. Vulgar humor, dirty jokes, and foul language have no place in the life of a Christian. Instead, our speech is to be characterized by “only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Colossians 3:16; 4:6). Helpful, edifying, meeting needs, and beneficial—these are our descriptive goals for the words we use. (Excerpts from Got Questions?)

Have your words ever stung like a bee? I know mine have…..