The Wisdom Of Ants

When I was younger, I remember observing and being fascinated by tiny ants. I will see them carrying mighty crumbs of bread much bigger than their size in a single file, sometimes from one location to the other. I would sometimes disrupt their path just being curious to know what they will do, but they will quickly form another path, sometimes I would see one with a much bigger head which I used to think was the king or queen. The smaller ants were very protective of this king or queen, ‘these tiny ants!’ I used to wonder ‘they must be in their own world’. At that young age that was all I could make of the ants. As I grew older and wiser and began to study the word of God, I have come across the ants again this time around God is telling me to observe the ants, the way they behave.

Proverbs 6: 6-8 (MSG) You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!

Proverbs 30:25 (MSG)ants—frail as they are, get plenty of food in for the winter;

As individuals the bible tells us to go and learn from the ants, to watch them closely so that we can learn a thing or two. I think more than ever before during this time of economic change and instability we can learn a thing or two from ants.

1.     Ants work in unity; Unity is so key if we are really going to achieve greatness on this earth, as a nation, as a family, as a congregation, etc. Before Jesus went out to face the cross he prayed for unity amongst his disciples but also for the church John 17:21  ^‘I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me’ NLT. Are we consumed with ourselves and competing with one another failing to see the big picture? which is what the ants see, they are not consumed with self but on how they can collectively achieve a purpose. We must always see the BIG picture, it is not about us, our careers, our businesses but about God’s plan and purpose here on earth which is much bigger than us.

2.     Ants are hardworking; Ants know they have to work hard, nobody has to tell them what to do because if they don’t work hard they will die, they won’t have any food to eat during the summer and even during winter when they can no longer go and find food. They can carry food items 10 times their size. When we are young, vibrant and strong we should make hay while the sun shines, if we don’t and we get old and weak we may no longer be able to do the things that we should have done when we were younger.

3.     Ants are great investors in their future: Ants store up supplies during the summertime so that during the winter when they are no longer able to work they will have supplies to feed on. We must invest into something profitable now when we can work and make money so that when we are no longer able to work we can feel secure. Ecclesiastes 11: 2 ‘Invest in seven ventures, yes even eight you do not know what disaster may come upon the land’. Proverbs 21: 20 ‘The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.’ It is good to invest and save for the rainy day, but we must never lose focus, and rely on money because money has wings, we must only rely on God.

4.     Ants are very focused; The ants have a purpose and are very focused on achieving their purpose. We must all be focused on fulfilling our divine purpose in life because that is the only thing that can give us true satisfaction. Rick Warren the author of ‘The purpose driven life’ wrote “Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them. Without purpose, life is trivial, petty and pointless”. How do we discover our purpose let alone focus on it? To find purpose we must focus on God, it is when we shift our focus to the one true, living God, then we will fulfil our divine purpose in life.

5.     Ants love themselves: God commands us to love each other .John 15:17 the ants love themselves, they are always looking out for one another, they care for each other, Phil 2;4  ‘Don’t look out only for your own interests , but take an interest in others too ‘Ants always leave a trail mark for other ants so that they can follow each other to the food source and they share what they have with one another.

6.     Ants make out time to rest. Ants conserve energy during the winter so that they can have the energy to work again in the summer. There are so many things to get done each day. Whether it’s work, school, business, cleaning the house, taking care of family, etc we are always busy. God expects us to be hardworking and get things done, but we need to rest so that we can be refreshed to better serve again. Remember even God rested on the seventh day.

I hope that in these uncertain times we can truly take the advice in the book of Proverbs and learn wisdom from the ants.