Fun fact today for all you bug-lovers out there: every single summer about 18 trillion mayflies all hatch at the same time on the upper Mississippi River, and they create a swarm so huge and disgusting that it can appear on weather radars. Just the dead ones can pile up deep enough to shut down bridges and fill up entire parking lots three feet deep.

So, knowing this makes me wonder… if every year brings 18 trillion new mayflies to the river, why does anybody live anywhere near the Mississippi River at all??

The answer, surprisingly, has everything to do with time. The Mississippi River is awesome 365 days a year, but the lifespan of a mayfly can be as short as five minutes. So, if you want to live on the mighty Mississippi, for a day or two every year you have to deal with mayflies. It’s just a small, annoying part of life on the river.

Now most people do not live on the Mississippi River, and most places do not have huge swarms of insects that have to be cleaned off the roads with snow plows. And might I add—Praise the LORD. But I'm telling you this story today because I think there is an important lesson in there for all of us, no matter where we live.

It may be the case that you are experiencing things in your life right now that are, well, horrible.  And if you aren’t, there is a really good chance that, sooner or later, you will. Therefore, you really need to know two facts about horrible things:

First fact: You need to know that horrible things pass. That is the lesson of the mayflies. As bad as horrible events in life are, or will be, life will go on, and so can you. Even those events that are so tragic and awful that things can never be the same again—even those pass, though their effects remain and you do have to face them.

Second fact: You need to know that the horrible things that happen to you or around you do not define you. Those things did not create you, so they do not get to say who you are. Everything there is to say about you, Jesus said it at the cross. It’s already out there. When Jesus died for your sins, among other things, your identity was forever announced.

First off, you are a sinner. There is no getting around that. But that is also not the whole story.  At the cross, we also learn that even at your very worst, when God looks at you, He sees someone worth dying for. And since God did create you, He does get to say who you are.  And that is who you are. A glorious mess, loved by God, worth dying for even at your worst.

So here is how all of that comes together in the real right now.

Don’t get lost in the mayflies this week. They are real. But they don't get to say who you are. God has already done that.

No matter our mayflies, inside and out, the river of life is still beautiful, and God has a beautiful place for you on it. So give yourself to Him and hang on. It’s a wild ride.