O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom you have made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, great and wide;
    creeping things innumerable are there,
    living things both small and great.
-Psalm 104:24-25

Over the long weekend, my family went hiking at Ledges State Park. I figured that if we’re going to make it along my favorite hike in Rocky Mountain National Park in June, we needed some practice at going up and down (and up… and down…). We had a great time on the trails, enjoying the overlooks, and splashing in the creek. Then, before we drove home, we decided to make one more stop at the Lost Lake nature trail.

Do you know who else was hanging out around that lake? 

Every single mosquito in the park.

At least, that’s what it seemed like when we walked around the trail, suddenly quite aware that we had applied sunscreen and NOT bug spray. As I swatted the tiny insects away from myself and my kids, I wondered (not for the first time) if mosquitoes could be considered the best evidence of sin in the world. They carry all kinds of diseases. One tiny bite can cause days of discomfort. They are, without a doubt, my least favorite animal. Snakes, spiders, and centipedes don’t even come close.

Then as I vowed to keep a bottle of bug spray in the car from now on, I remembered the psalm above, which we just heard in worship last weekend. Could it really be that “in wisdom” God made even the mosquitos? Maybe the psalmist just didn’t know about mosquitos. But then, they’re found on every continent except Antarctica. I suppose the psalmist must have known about mosquitoes, and plenty of other “creeping things” to boot.

I found myself wondering about God’s wisdom. I could see God’s wisdom in the red-winged blackbirds that circled through the trees, the striped chipmunk that scurried out of our path, and the frog that croaked from the edge of the lake. But mosquitoes? If there is any wisdom to be found in them, it’s beyond me.

Maybe you don’t mind mosquitoes, or maybe you can see the important role they play in ecosystems around the world. Maybe you dislike them as much as I do. Like them or not, they are part of God’s Earth, and, if we trust the psalmist, the result of God’s wisdom and creativity.

Mosquitoes are a good reminder that God’s wisdom doesn’t always make very much sense to us. Sometimes, it seems downright foolish. And yet, the psalmist testifies to the diversity of creation as evidence that God is wise and mighty, creative and good.

How often we put our ideas ahead of God’s– or, worse still, confuse our ideas with God’s. Staying rooted in Scripture and humbly listening to other voices helps us to discern what is from God and what is not. I hope that the mosquitoes this summer can remind us to stay humble, to trust God’s wisdom above our own, … and also to keep some bug spray in the car.