Articles

Why the Mosquito?

By Lanny and Marilyn Johnson

With a ‘Whiiiiiiiii,” it lets you know it is coming. Then with a fierce bite, you know it has arrived. With a “yelp” you give it a slap. When mosquitoes are attacking us, it’s easy to wonder why a loving god made pests and other things like disease, suffering and death.

To answer this question, we must go all the way back to Creation. Everything that God made was “very good”. (Genesis 1:31) There were no diseases or suffering. God created Adam and Eve, our first “parents”, and put them in the Garden of Eden. God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden, except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he ate of that tree, he would “surely die”! (Genesis 2:17) God gave Adam and Eve the ability to make their own choices. They were not programmed to act like robots. They could decide if they wanted to obey or disobey God. Sadly, Adam and Eve made the wrong choice.

When Adam and Eve broke the one rule god had asked them to keep, everything went wrong. Because of their sin (disobeying God), death and suffering came into the world (Romans 5:12), just as God had warned.

So, was it Adam and Eve’s fault that all bad things happen? It may have started with them, but god tells us in Romans 3:23. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “All” is you, and me, and everybody! We naturally choose not to follow God’s instructions. Death and suffering is a price that we have to pay for that.

But what about the innocent babies who have done no wrong—why do they sometimes suffer? There are no easy answers to this question, but it is helpful to think about Jesus. He was also innocent and was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) yet, He suffered horribly. Sometimes innocent people suffer because those around them disobey God.

Mosquitoes add to our suffering since some can carry very dangerous diseases (like malaria, yellow fever, and West Nile virus). In fact, more humans die from mosquito bites than from any other insect.

So should e blame a mosquito for the pain it causes us? Actually, a mosquito is not doing this to hurt us. She sees us as just another place to get blood. I use the word “she” because only the female mosquito bites you and eats blood. The male gets his food from the spa of plants. The female needs the hemoglobin found in blood to produce eggs. Interestingly, some plants also have hemoglobin. It might be that before man sinned, the female got her hemoglobin from plants.

Even though mosquitoes are pesky to us, they have a place in the world God made. Mosquitoes are a good source of food for many animals such as frogs, fish, lizards, bats, and birds. Baby mosquitoes (larvae) help to filter and clean the water they live in.

Our god, who created all things, allows the mosquito to remain even though it causes human suffering. Maybe one reson He does not take away all suffering is to remind us of the results of sin. Every mosquito bite ought to remind us that the Bible is true and we should obey God!

The bible tells us that we are only on this earth for a very short time. You see, Jesus died for our sins so that those who have faith in Him will be with Him when they die. God has prepared a place for those who put their trust in Jesus—“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shell be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4). It will be a place where the wolves, lambs, leopards, goats, lions, calves, bears, snakes and people shall live together peacefully (Isaiah11:6-9). It will be a world of joy where the ‘Whiiiiiiiii,” of a mosquito might be music to our ears. Are you ready for a place like this? Have you given your life to Jesus?

Kids Think and Believe Too Newsletter Alpha Omega Institute

Also see “ The Dragonfly's Demise”.