Eating Worms
Perhaps you’ve heard that old song about eating worms from as far back as 1910 or so. “Nobody likes me! Everybody hates me! Guess I’ll go eat worms!” (Original author unknown) Well, I’m not sure what the exact correlation is between being disliked and deciding to eat worms in the garden, but please educate me if you know what it is!
When has that song popped into your head? We might echo that little ditty when we are feeling snubbed by others or when we feel a little unloved. Or we might echo the words looking at our own bad choices … After all, if I conclude that I am maybe not that loveable, it might hurt less if I say it first, “Guess I’ll go eat some worms!”
When we head back into the daily grind of a new year, we might feel our limitations and failures afresh and perhaps the condemnation of those limitations and failures, especially when they reveal our sins: words we wish we could take back, time we wish we spent otherwise, hurts we wish we could undo. In those moments, we might feel defeated, ugly, weak and unlovable. Well, ok ... in those moments, I might feel ugly, weak and unlovable!
As Christian author Jeannie Cunnion writes, “We all have a merciless critic in our heads… But here’s the good news. We have a merciful Savior.” Condemnation is from the enemy. The enemy wants us to think that God is angry and disgusted and that His heart is closed to us. Conviction is different. Conviction from the Holy Spirit beckons us to repent and receive mercy.[1]
“Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” Romans 3:23-24
So, if you are feeling unlikeable, unlovable and worm-y ... remember that this condemnation is from the enemy. In fact, none of your failures or sin can overcome the grace of God in Christ Jesus. God delights over you in every moment and longs for you to turn and lean into His love.
A Prayer
Most merciful God, would you tune our ears to your Holy Spirit so that we can reject the condemning voice of the enemy and always turn to the gracious voice of our Good Shepherd? Would the truth of Your unconditional love sink to the deepest corners of our hearts and minds, as we live into the truth of Christ’s victory over sin and death? We pray in Jesus’ powerful name. Amen.
[1] “Moms Set Free” by Jeannie Cunnion, 2017, p 73
