As I try to observe and encourage my runners at various points on the course, I typically run between 5 and 6 miles on Meet Days…as the Cross Country Coach!  But after a few hours out on the course this weekend, I decided I would walk for a minute…and within 30 seconds of walking, I got stung by a vicious wasp or fire ant or some other insufferable insect that had emerged from the Abyss.  And I suppose there could be some inspirational lesson along the lines of, “Don’t ever stop running!” that we could glean from this irritating episode…but the story isn’t over.

Because whatever bit me has resulted in the most profoundly unrelenting ITCH I have ever experienced in my life!  I’ve historically been unfazed by the Mosquito Militia and almost completely unbothered by bee stings, but this one is different!

So I tried scratching it…and this, predictably, made it worse. Then I tried some hydrocortisone cream…and that didn’t do anything either.  And just in case, I tried both of those interventions a few more times with predictably futile results.

But you want to know how I’m able to somehow overcome this horrendous adversity and hopefully inspire the 8 people who end up reading this while I pretend to work today?  Because I decided to ignore it. I prayed for the resolve to simply focus on other stuff, and that has been infinitely more effective than anything else.

Is the itch still there? Yep. But I’ve moved on…and life is good!

And I feel that one of the most potent “itches” in today’s society is the incessant allure of Social Media apps on the Almighty iPhone.  You get that “itch” for Instagram, and you scratch that itch…and 3 hours later, you’re still Doom-scratching that itch, and you’re probably even more depressed than when you started.

So you apply some Limit Lotion to your time spent on TikTok, maybe even setting your profile to Private, unfollowing bad influences, and appointing certain times for scratching.  And this doesn’t really work either!

The itch is probably still going to be there. But just pray that God can liberate you from the urge to scratch it and instead, fill your mind with Divine Distractions. Unplug from the phony phone-world and plug into the real Truth of the Word.  And then I bet you may even start to forget that you were ever bitten in the first place😊