Providential Pest

Did you know that in the town of Enterprise, Alabama, there is a monument erected to honor the boll weevil? I know this because I have seen it. I lived in Enterprise, AL, while my dad was going through basic training in the army when I was in the third grade. I also saw E.T. in Enterprise that year, but that is another story! Our Alabama History curriculum reminded me of the fact that the statue is in honor of a bug. Why on earth did they build a statue in 1919 to commemorate a pest that wiped out their cotton crops?

I mean this little creepy destroyed their main money-making crop making things pretty tight for the farmers. I can only imagine how devastated they must have been upon seeing the crops they had worked so hard to produce eaten by millions of boll weevils. So again I ask why commemorate the event with a statue honoring the bug? Well, I have the answer: This disaster forced the farmers to seek out new crops to grow and the new crops were prosperous. Finding new crops actually made the economy more stable. The people were so thankful that the bug created such a disaster that they made a monument for all to see.I believe there is a lesson here. Sometimes when things are the pits or there has even been a disaster, good can come of it. I can't tell you how many times, in the midst of terrible circumstances, I have cried out to God asking, "Why?" "Why does it have to be this way?" And He lovingly shows me, sometimes not for many years, how He was there all along.

And so to the boll weevil, we salute you "Mr. Cotton Munching Disaster Bug Sent Providentially for the Good of the Prosperity of the town of Enterprise" long live your statue that points us straight back to our very awesome and in charge God!