Faith | He chose love rather than hate and found the antidote
It was not what I expected.
I walked to the outside through a door seldom used in my house, and unknown to me, a colony of wasps had built a nest in the upper corner of the door frame. As I moved through the door, the wasps felt threatened. I was besieged by stinging wasps on all exposed parts of my body. I was wearing a short sleeve shirt.
It was a frightful experience.
With flailing arms and cries for help, I stepped away, saw the nest, and discerned what was happening. But by then, it was too late to avoid this unfortunate encounter. My head and arms were stinging everywhere.
Reeling from the blitz of stings, and wondering what to do next, I decided I had two options.
I could get angry and mad at the wasps for stinging me and harbor seething resentment. I knew this option would put my thought into a dark place, and likely augment the physical suffering. Or I could forgive the wasps, release all anger, and fill my thought with spiritual truth and love, a state of mind that I knew from experience, facilitates quicker physical healing.
As the apostle Paul writes, “To be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6) Spiritual mindedness is a loving state of mind that is filled with heavenly peace. Hate and anger are pained mortal states of mind that sustain discord and suffering.
As I stood dazed in the yard wondering what to do, I saw that I could choose to either hate or love. I didn’t want to suffer more. I wanted to be healed, and quickly. So, I chose to love.
I forgave the wasps. I sat down and got very still in thought and body, quietly listening for angel messages of comforting truth coming my way.
I was reminded of Jesus Christ’s promise to his followers, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19) I hadn’t been bit by a serpent or scorpion, but I decided that wasp stings fell into the same category. Per Jesus’ promise, I had spiritual power over wasp stings, to reverse any bad effect from them, and keep myself well.
A feeling of spiritual dominion took over as I affirmed that the healing power of Christ was in me, loving me that moment, neutralizing the stings, dissipating the welts, and restoring my body to good health.
As my thought filled with heavenly peace, the stinging sensations disappeared in 4 to 5 minutes. The welts vanished in short order. A couple of hours later, I had lunch with my wife. I told her my story and was happy to show her no evidence of stings.
I was grateful for the prompt turnaround, but even more, for making the right choice.
I chose to love, rather than spiral into anger or fear. I chose to keep my thought in a heavenly place. And I can’t help but believe, that the choice to love, rather than hate, allowed physical healing to happen quicker.
