Why Did God Create Wasps?

Posted byFractured Faith BlogPosted inA Fractured FaithTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small

All things bright and beautiful

The Lord God made them all.

So goes the traditional hymn I recall being belted out on the church organ so many times during my childhood. It was normally reserved for harvest time when each pew would be adorned with fresh farm produce; fruit, vegetables, all manner of breads. The aroma mingled with that of the various garlands of flowers so lovingly arranged by the ladies of the church.

God teaches us to love all of his creations.

Except wasps that is!

I hate wasps! The evil, nasty black and yellow beasties which are currently laying siege to our house. It’s the time of year where they seem to be everywhere. You open a window the tiniest crack and they are queuing up to enter, squadrons of them easterly awaiting to ruin your morning by buzzing around the kitchen looking for a fight. Their sole purpose in life appears to be to sting you. And that hurts.

A wasp stung me on the stomach a couple of years ago when I dared to disturb it when removing chairs from a storeroom in the village hall. And, flip me, but it hurt. The common remedy in these parts for a wasp sting is to rub vinegar on the afflicted area. This works to a degree but leaves you stinking like a fish supper for the remainder of the day, a social leper to be avoided at all costs. There is nothing good to say about a wasps.

Just look at bees. Yes, they sting as well, but they don’t have anywhere near the malicious intent of their vicious cousins. They also serve a useful purpose in the cycle of life, making honey and pollinating flowers. They work hard, have an incredibly ordered social structure and are ruled by a queen who effortlessly runs the whole show from her cosy hive. Yet, everyone talks about killer bees and wasps never get a mention. Why the bad press?

While conducting painstaking research for this post….er…Wikipedia….all my initial thoughts regarding bees were confirmed. I typed ‘wasp’ into the search engine with low expectations. The highlight of my relationship with the creature was when my sister sat on one as a child. Her screams could be heard several miles away. It is now the stuff of family legend and never fails to amuse me. I’m sure she won’t mind me sharing this with you all.

But, wait, what’s this? Wasps also cross pollinate plants and flowers? And without wasps predatory instincts, our planet would be awash with all kinds of creepy crawlies laying waste to our crops? Some countries even farm wasps to police this ravenous insect population. They are the state troopers of the microscopic world. Without wasps the earth could be wracked with pestilence, famine and war.

My gob was well and truly smacked at this news, my flabber more ghasted than ever before. Wasps are friends of mankind, a tiny but vital link in the ecological chain. We need them as much as we need cows and fish and every other creature that walks, swims or flies the earth. They say God works in mysterious ways and if that’s certainly the case when it comes to these stripey, flying psychopaths.

It’s hard, I know, but we need to see the good in everyone, even those who make us roll our eyes and mutter under our breaths. Who are we do judge? Who am I to? If I can get it so wrong about the humble wasp then what’s to say I’ve got it hopelessly awry about my annoying neighbour or crazy work colleague. We can still love one another even if we don’t particularly like one another.

Now let’s hope President Trump never gets stung by a wasp live on air. Although it would be funny….

Published by Fractured Faith Blog

We are Stephen and Fionnuala and this is our story. We live in Northern Ireland, have been married for 17 years and have three kids - Adam, Hannah and Rebecca. We hope that our story will inspire and encourage others. We have walked a rocky road yet here we are today, together and stronger than ever. We are far from perfect and our faith has been battered and bruised. But an untested faith is a pointless faith. Just as a fractured faith is better than none at all. We hope you enjoy the blog.

49 thoughts on “Why Did God Create Wasps?”

  1. Wow. Who knew that those terrible creatures are useful!?!

    Maybe I should google Rats. I think they are one of the most disgusting and purposeless creatures in the world. So unproductive and vile, that the province two doors over from mine has banned them (successfully too!) In fact, I kid you not, one was discovered in Alberta years ago and it earned itself full media coverage. I may be mistaken, but they seem to be living just fine without them 😜

    Like

    Reply

    2. Wild rats, maybe. But when I went to the pet store to buy my 4-year-old daughter a hamster, the employee we talked to said she’s be better off with a rat. Domestic rats don’t bite, they’re affectionate, and they are extremely smart. Kelly loved all the rats she had over the years. (And where would we be without the medical research done using lab rats?)

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Ya I’ve heard of people loving them as pets, saying they’re affectionate even and smart as dogs…I don’t think I could personally get past the “ick” factor of having a rodent in the family though!

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

  2. Well, I certainly learned something today.
    My children had a devotional book written by a pastor who was also a zookeeper. (I kid you not.) Every daily devo was about animals. One day we learned about mosquitoes, and how they bite the deer in the spring and drive them to higher altitudes so they don’t hang around and strip the trees bare in the valleys. I could almost hear the Lord say, as I’m about to complain about one of His creatures: “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

    Like

    Reply

  4. We love our wasps at the farm for the very reasons you learned about. I’m extremely allergic to wasp stings (like get me to the emergency room allergic). We have a ton of wasps in our peas and harvesting can be a bit intimidating. It’s funny but they always seem to fly on to the next plant and don’t seem to mind me picking peas. They’re not aggressive and we seem to coexist peaceably. For that I’m extremely thankful.

    God’s world constantly amazes me. Farming organically reveals a whole world of wonder. I guess that why Jesus used so many “agricultural” parables…

    Like

    Reply

  6. I’ve known for quite sometime that wasps are beneficial and everyone is like “dont bother them they wont bother you…” and me? I’m hiding in a closet as far away as possible crying and begging every one to save me. Or if they have their combat boots on and AKs loaded when im coming home I will still in my car until they go away. Ice cream be damned.

    Ok so maybe the closet thing I do with most creepy crawlies and flying demon spawn…

    Haha. I did enjoy this though ^•^ thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. I had to pull a wasp out of Archer’s paw this week, the demon was still very much alive and clearly doing everything it could to inject every last bit of venom into him. He just sat there with his paw out looking at me, doing the doggy equivalent of ow, oww, owwwww, owwwwwwww. Poor bugger. I’ll let him know him now he’s a bad boy for stepping on a productive cross-pollinator. I’m sure he’ll understand he’s into nature 😉

    Like

    Reply

  9. This was a beautiful post. I too always hated wasps and was very confused about why their existence was necessary. It definitely proves that through all things God does good. x

    Like

    Reply

  11. Everything has a place in nature. Rats eat garbage and provide a food source for bigger animals. Wasps fit in that cycle also… somewhere. The problem comes when nature gets out of balance; too much food source and not enough predators one step up on the food chain.

    Like

    Reply

  12. I remember reading about how absolutely essential wasps are – just like bees – to the planet. The thing is, it’s so hard to remember this when you’re dealing with a stinging wasp ha! My wee dog ran a little too close to a wasps nest yesterday, and oh boy did they get angry! Three of them stung her, one stung so deep that it was actually caught in her paw-pad and I had to pull it out. She was in a lot of pain, and me, well I was in a lot of panic! At that moment in time it was hard not to want to pull the wasps off her and stomp on them in anger. I didn’t, but it was a challenging moment! 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  13. Why is it though that a wasp can enter through the tiniest crack but when you open the door or window they can’t seem to find the way out?

    Like

    Reply

  14. My husband was stung several times a few years ago and ended up in ER with terrible reaction so he is not a fan of bees. But I constantly remind him that all the flowers in his garden need those bees. Good how you applied that truth to our relationships with others. Good reminder to look for the good in others – even when it is sometimes difficult. As for Trump, don’t get me started. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  15. For a moment, I wondered if you were secretly my brother. I was stung in the booty by a rabid wasp (well, maybe not rabid) when I sat on it as a kid. It is the stuff of legends to this day. That one incident has set me on a lifelong irrational fear of those flying demons, and anything else that stings. Down here in Florida, we have hawk wasps, with the second-most painful sting known to mankind. What a pleasure! (Note the dripping sarcasm.) At least they are “docile.” I’m not sticking around to find out.

    I always wondered what wasps are good for. At least, now I know. Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Wasps are awful to deal with. Supposedly peppermint oil is a great way to keep them away as well as vinegar traps (which I’ve found to be successful with fruit flies, so it could work with the wasps).

    Like

    Reply

  18. I once walked through a park with my husband and was minding my own business when I accidentally stepped in a wasps nest. They attacked my ankle with vicious stabs and stings that hurt for quite a few days after. Since then I have been terrified of the little beasties. I guess I have to give them credit though for all they do.”

    I have a person I am dealing with at work that is kind of like this. She rubs me the wrong way and every time I see a call from her I roll my eyes and don’t want to deal with her. But the truth is usually she’s just asking for help and I have to learn to get past the rudeness and see that she’s coming to me because she feels there’s something I can do for her. Thanks for this reminder my friend. ❤

    Like

    Reply

  19. Funny post! I understand the humor in it but I gotta say after reading some of the comments asking “why are wasps necessary” … why does a creature have to be useful to us in order to justify its existence? Unless there is some grand design behind the moles destroying my front yard!

    Like

    Reply

  24. Villains with their on agenda. We have had to take down some nests in the making, actually done by the queen herself. She starts building and then lays eggs. Workers. I learned this when I had a queen try to build a hive right outside the front door! Villain, I say!

    Good to know their vicious ways are used for good, though, I hesitate to be in their path. XD

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Fractured Faith Blog Cancel reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: