So we have this ant
hill in our bathroom. It runs all the
way up the wall, from floor to ceiling. They weren’t here when we first arrived. It started as a line of ants marching one after another up the
wall. We thought about changing rooms,
but it seems no room here is void of “houseguests.”
as a line of ants. But slowly, they
started making a tunnel over themselves up the wall. After only a day, half the line of ants was
still exposed, while the lower half was now safe inside this tunnel made of
dirt. By the next morning, we couldn’t
even see the ants anymore. There was
just this dirt tunnel from floor to ceiling.
The tunnel is
directly behind the bathroom door, so we have been very careful to try not to
disturb the ant tunnel when we go in and out of the bathroom (ignorance is
bliss – so even though I know they are still there, if I can’t see them I can
pretend they aren’t). But there have
been a few instances where we bumped the tunnel by accident and the line of
ants would be exposed. They would
frantically get back to work, and the tunnel would be repaired in no time at
all.
This fascinates me.
The teamwork among
these ants is unlike anything I have ever seen. I’m not sure how they communicate with one another, but somehow they all
fall in line and know what to do. If an
obstacle comes along unexpectedly and destroys what they have worked so hard to
build, they don’t panic or give up. They
don’t miss a beat. They simply get back
to work right away until the job is repaired.
This makes me
think, how would I react? If I had spent
days working nonstop to build something that I could be proud of; if I had
poured out blood, sweat, and tears working alongside others until the job was
finally complete, how would I react if something suddenly came along and
destroyed it? Would I get back to work
right away and carry on? Probably
not. I would be devastated. I might walk away frustrated, or complain
about all the time that had been wasted. Or I might try to cast blame on whoever may have been responsible for
the destruction. I would, hopefully,
eventually get back to work, but I probably wouldn’t do it with a joyful heart.
Jesus tells us to
“do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless
and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” Phil 2:14-15.
I have this
theory. You know when you see a sign
that states something obvious? Like at
the zoo, where there will be a sign outside the lion’s exhibit that says,
“DON’T TAUNT THE LIONS!” It seems like
common sense, right? But my dad always
says, “common sense isn’t so common.” They wouldn’t put that sign up unless someone, somewhere, at sometime,
had done it.
Before leaving on
the world race, I worked as a waitress. Every time I brought a hot plate out to a table, I would tell them it
was a hot plate before setting it down in front of them. I shouldn’t have to tell them. It seems obvious that the plate is hot. There is steam coming off the plate, and the
juices are still bubbling, and I am wearing an oven mitt. But I do have to tell them, because someone
always grabs the plate with their bare hands. They do this even after I tell them the plate is hot. There is always someone who has to see just
how hot this plate is. And then comes
the all too familiar scream, “AH, THAT’S HOT!”
So I have this same
theory about the bible. I believe that
most of the things in the bible God commands us to do, everything that Jesus
says we should strive to be like, or refrain from, is because it is human nature
to do just the opposite. For example,
when the bible says to do all things without complaining, it is because
complaining is human nature. God speaks
to us A LOT. He is always speaking. I believe with all my heart that God has done
a lot more talking than just what is written in the bible. What IS in the bible are the things He
decided were most important. And it’s no
coincidence that many of the things He asks us to do go against what our flesh
usually wants to do. He has said these
things for a reason.
God says, “Let
every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19). He says, “Children, obey your parents in all
things” (Col 3:20). He says, “Do not
worry about tomorrow” (Matt 6:34). He
says, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt 5:44). He says, “Whoever slaps you on your right
cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matt 5:39). He says, “Judge not, that you will not be judged” (Matt 7:1). He says, “Count it all joy when you fall into
various trials” (James 1:2). He says,
“Do not forget to entertain strangers” (Hebrews 13:2). He says, “Younger people, submit yourselves
to your elders” (1 Peter 5:5). He says,
“Humble yourselves” (1 Peter 5:6). He
says not to be jealous, not to gossip, not to be lazy, not to be
self-righteous, not to love money, not to be prideful, to be patient, to be
joyful, to be giving…
You get the
point. Each of these things do not come
naturally to us. That is why God has put
them in writing for us, to remind us. Without the sign at the zoo, someone is going to taunt the lions. Without these reminders from God, we are
going to do what comes naturally to us.
So back to the
ants. The ants made me think of the
story of Jerusalem being rebuilt. Nehemiah
was a man of prayer. And like a true man
of God, he prayed in faith, even in times of trouble, and God answered his
prayers. His request to God had been
that He would put in the king’s heart to permit him to return to Jerusalem to
help rebuild the walls around the city which had been broken down and
burned. God answered Nehemiah’s
prayer. Even though the temple had
already been restored, and the walls were gradually being rebuilt, the work had
been neglected until Nehemiah arrived to complete it. Men and women from all different cities came
to help Nehemiah rebuild what had been destroyed over a period of many years
and help make the city secure again. They
worked day and night, sunup to sundown, without pay, and without stopping to
rest long. Their enemies ridiculed them,
and the threat of war came against them. But through prayer, preparation and hard work, they were able to
overcome all. The people were not
distracted from their work by differences, selfishness, exhaustion or any other
diversion that would usually be common with such long and tedious work. They were relentless. They were committed to what they had set out
to do, and God was behind them every step of the way. They were like the ants. “So we built the wall, and the entire wall
was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work” Neh
4:6.
The book of
Nehemiah teaches us how important it is to work together towards a common
goal. The people, like the ants, were
relentless in their determination to rebuild what had been destroyed. They did not allow themselves to become
discouraged. They did not allow
themselves to be distracted. They did
not allow obstacles to stand in their way. And the result was a restored Jerusalem! There is no limit to what we can do in Christ. He strengthens us, He equips us, He sustains
us, He nourishes us, He guides us, and He protects us. If we strive to do the things He encourages
us to do, and if we refrain from doing the things our flesh wants to do in
times of trouble; if we pick up our cross daily and lay down our own lives,
then we are sure to be victorious…like the ants.
