God chose a tiny ant carrying his defeated giant beetle to remind me that greater is He that is in me,
than he that is in the world.
He was so tiny. All six legs moved in synch as his jaws struggled to carry the beetle delicacy across the porch, down the steps, through the dense foliage of an uncut lawn, and into his ant hill where family and friends awaited.
An ant. A tiny, red ant.
I wonder if he realized how outsized he was by the ugly black beetle — a mere soldier ant versus what must have seemed to be a gargantuan bug. Big. Ugly. And complete with those prickly legs.
Honestly, the ant didn’t seem fazed.
He just kept on keeping on with his mission, regardless of the giant clamped in his jaws – after all, family and friends were depending on him.
He struggled, but he never gave up.
I wonder if he questioned his own strength when he engaged in battle with the giant black beast. Did he question? Or did he simply move with the awareness that his Creator had gifted him with all he needed to conquer the foe?
I wonder.
I know how I feel when I face a giant.
Typically, I shrink with fear and anxiety, not to mention dread. Rarely do I see myself as God sees me and rarely do I engage my giants courageously. I usually just want them to go away as I tearfully crawl beneath a blanket and find the fetal position of comfort.
But I’m learning.
I’m Learning to View My Circumstances From God’s Perspective, Thanks to a Tiny Ant
I’m learning to view my circumstances from God’s perspective — giants and all.
Consider the ant again.
And consider me looking down on him watching as he wrangled his giant beetle. That reminds me of an image of God peering from His throne of grace, watching, overseeing my every move, ready to intervene if necessary, as I wrangle my own giants.
When I see my life through the lens of just myself, I become very small in comparison to the giants in my land. But when I compare my giants to my God, and not to myself, I realize just how big and mighty He is!
And I remember that the Holy Spirit of God is within me and that He declares, “Not by might (my own), not by power (my own), but by My Spirit!”
The giant doesn’t stand a chance.
And get this: God has quite the reputation when it comes to battling the enemy.
He has never lost a battle.
God rarely wins them with conventional means that the wise would approve. He chose 5 smooth stones and a young boy. He chose marching around the walls of Jericho and taking it down with a shout of praise. He chose trumpets and jars of clay that hid the torches taking the enemy by surprise.
Our Giants Don’t Stand a Chance. Just Ask an Ant
And He chose a tiny ant carrying his defeated giant beetle to remind me that greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.
When I consider the struggle the ant went through to meet the needs of his family and friends, how he never gave up, how he moved with confidence against any and all obstacles, I am encouraged.
I am encouraged because if an ant can do that for his ‘loved ones’, I can do it too, and so can you – no matter how hard it is when they let us down. No matter how hard it is when they disappoint us, or when they continue to love us when we can’t love ourselves.
Are there giants in your land? Does anxiety threaten to consume you? Are you eaten up with unforgiveness? Resentment? Is depression rendering you dysfunctional while unemployment, cancer, dementia, and prodigal children cause you to crawl beneath a blanket and find the fetal position of comfort?
I know. I get it.
But consider the ant.
And consider the giant-slayer who is with you in every. single. battle.
Selah
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