The Worm Story: How Change & Agitation Can Lead To Resolving Underlying Issues

"But everything exposed by the light becomes visible--and everything that is illuminated becomes a light." Ephesians 5:13

There is a story I like to share about a young boy. This boy loved to go fishing. Unfortunately, his appetite for fishing was more than the cash he had to buy worms.

Fortunately for him, his uncle had a solution to his problem. He owned a device that could feed his appetite. This device had six rods. Made of wood, each rod had a metal pole coming out of the center. The metal poles were connected to a circuit and all six rods connected to an electrical plug. 

The boy would water an area of ground or wait for the rain to wet it, then stick the rods into the ground. Then he'd plug in the circuit, and the rods would send electricity into the ground. The shock aggravated the worms in the ground causing them to rise to the surface. The boy could collect the displaced worms, while also exposing gaps in the ground.

Once he had enough worms, he could use them as bait to catch fish.

In our life, worms are everywhere. It is part of being human.

These worms may represent experiences, pain, bad habits, problems, secrets, or sin. When we allow worms to live in our lives, they grow and reproduce. This leads to more pain and hurts for ourselves and others.

Now, the beauty of surfacing these worms is, once we bring them to the light, we can use them to catch fish.

We can share our story with a friend and inspire them.

We can convey our experiences to a spouse as a way to empathize with them.

We can write our problem down to learn from it.

There is beauty on the other side, but it requires an electrical shock. It requires us to have accountability and community. It requires us to look in the mirror and see ourselves for who we are. At this point, we can start to make progress towards becoming the person we're intended to be.

Where in your life do you need to surface worms? Are you 'shocking' them to the surface? 

Hero Image Courtesy of Keith Taylor Photography