Way down south in the county of Coffee, in the town of Enterprise, and in the state of Alabama there is a tribute dedicated to the boll weevil. A thirteen-foot-high statue of a woman holding a large, black boll weevil adorns the town square. Am I pulling your leg? 

For over two hundred years cotton was king in the south and boll weevils do love cotton. Their infestation destroyed acres of cotton crops and the farmers’ income. So why would one town erect a statue that expresses profound appreciation for this pest?

By 1910 boll weevils covered the state of Alabama and farmers lost over 70% of their cotton crops. Nothing decimated the south like the boll weevil. Farmers were forced to abandon cotton growing and they turned to the peanut. By 1917 Coffee County was harvesting more than one million bushels of peanuts annually and the town of Enterprise became known as the peanut capital of the world. That year, with a prayer of thanksgiving to God, the statue was erected to honor the boll weevil.

Has it ever been true that your world could have fallen apart only to reveal a solution which eventually alters your life toward a far better direction? Catch this verse:

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.” (I Peter 1:6)