My wife and I spend most of our summer weekends camping.  And lately, I’ve been intrigued with the dragonflies we’ve been seeing.  There’s just something about the way they zoom back and forth, almost like a space vehicle in a video arcade game.

You know it’s only been in the last 10 years or so that we’ve really come to learn much about these four-winged fliers.  For instance…did you know there are about 5000 species of dragonflies worldwide—and new species are still being discovered!  Dragonflies can be smaller than one inch, or longer than four inches, with a wingspan exceeding five inches.  As for speed, they can fly between 30 and 35 miles per hour. 

A dragonfly typically eats 10 -15 percent of its own weight in prey.  That menu would include mosquitoes, aphids and other small insects.

Lots of myths have swirled around dragonflies for years.  Among the more popular: that they can sew your lips or eyelids shut.  My favorite myth: that dragonflies bring dead snakes back to life. 

Those myths seem silly.  Until you acknowledge the myths that you and I regularly entertain and even feed.  Myths like, “God doesn’t really know about my situation.” Or… “He really isn’t going to provide for me.”

Scientists report that when you’re actually handling a dragonfly, they’ll pretend they’re going to sting you. They curl up their abdomen and look exactly like they’re about to strike.  But the dirty little dragonfly secret is this: they can’t.  They don’t have a stinger!

Neither do those worries you and I cradle in our hearts. Romans 8:15 reminds us, “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father!”

It’s time we stopped fearing worries without a stinger.  

Lord help us hear you and trust you.