Big Lessons, Small Things

“There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.” - Proverbs 30:24

The day was warm, but not too hot. A gentle breeze whispered in the air, but no large gusts of wind. The water was cool, but pleasantly so. From all appearances, we had chosen the perfect day for a picnic at the lake. Excitedly, we unloaded all of our gear and began to set out our boxed lunch.

About half way through our burgers and hot dogs some very unwelcome guests showed up at our table. That’s right, you guessed it—ants!

With great huffs of annoyance, we cleared them from our table only to have more of their friends show up as they obviously began to call in reinforcements. After unsuccessfully fending them off for several minutes, we quickly finished our meal and moved to the water, leaving the ants to enjoy the crumbs left on our table.

Much later, after an enjoyable day outdoors, the brave army of ants continued to intrigue me.

Although these small creatures are a bother to us humans, isn’t it just amazing how perfectly God created them? They are conditioned to work together and to be able to carry up to 60 times their own body weight upon their backs. Not only do they do this with remarkable measures of success, but they also face down stalwart obstacles—including picnic-going people—who strive to eliminate their elaborate plans.

But do they back down in defeat? Tuck their heads in shame? Not a chance! Instead they forge on, somehow instinctively knowing that victory lies on the horizon—if only they keep pressing on.

Who knew such great life lessons could be learned from such tiny creatures? What seems to be a “bother” to us is really wisdom in action! Just further proof that big lessons often lie in small things.