MONUMENT TO A BOLL WEEVIL

In Enterprise, Alabama a strange monument rises 13 feet above the town square. A statue of a woman stands atop a marble pillar, holding a pedestal overhead supporting a gigantic bronze boll weevil. But it gets even more bizarre. Each October, the community hosts a Boll Weevil Festival, honoring the pesky insect. Much as Santa Claus arriving in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, the festival highlights a giant attired weevil dancing down the street. Locals even compete in a boll weevil costume contest. Hmm... So how is it that a creature known for its destruction, is bestowed such great honor? 

In the early 1900s, cotton farming was the mainstay for the local economy. But over time, boll weevils were decimating the crops. Realizing their livelihood was in jeopardy, the farmers diversified, planting new crops such as soybeans. In doing so, they discovered a sweet serendipity. These new crops actually created greater profitability for the farmers, delivering them from economic ruin. The boll weevils turned out to be a blessing in disguise. So the monument’s plaque reads, “In appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the Herald of Prosperity...” 

That certainly flips things on its head! What had been viewed as a curse, turned out to be a blessing. It’s a great testimony to one of the most powerful and familiar promises in scripture. Romans 8:28 declares, “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord...”  Notice that doesn’t say all things are good; rather God promises to bring good out of every struggle we face. Throughout scripture, we see this demonstrated over and over, most profoundly at the cross. God took the worst tragedy in history and transformed it into greatest triumph that ever occurred! 

Napoleon Hill wrote, “In every adversity there is the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” Is it possible that the painful experience you’re encountering right now is the seed of an even greater blessing? Embrace whatever you’re enduring at this moment. It could turn out to be your “boll weevil”.