Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds. Psalms 148:7-10 NIV
This morning as I was walking my dog to get the morning paper, as she stopped to smell the ground a little, I found myself standing beside a big tree in my front yard. There, climbing up the tree, was one small ant--the “smallest creature“, all alone, moving slowly, but methodically, it seemed, toward the top of the tree. Seeing that ant spoke to me this morning. In its own way, this ant was praising God!
Here, in the middle of this great big world, with all its troubles and turmoil, was a little tiny ant. That ant wasn’t worried about the economy in Japan, or its effect on our economy. It wasn’t concerned whether the gross domestic product indexes would be higher or lower than the previous month. This ant wasn’t worried about global warming, Middle East peace talks, or the impact a strike would have on baseball in America. I doubt this ant was even concerned about whether or not I had let my lawn grow too long between mowing. This ant wasn’t worried about anything. It was simply doing what God created it to do, which right now was climbing up this tree in my front yard.
I wonder if Adam and Eve felt that way before the Fall. Did they worry about food or about what they would eat? Of course not. Did they worry about clothes or about what they would wear? Did they worry about shelter or about where they would live? Of course not. God supplied all their needs. They simply trusted in Him. But after the Fall, when they were banished from the perfect Garden, I wonder if Adam lay awake at night worrying, “Where am I going to get food for tomorrow?” or “Will I ever have a bigger home?” or “How long before we need new fig clothing?”
Isn’t God calling us, who know and love His Son Jesus, to become more like that ant than like Adam after the Fall? Doesn’t He want us to rely on Him, just as that ant does, for every provision of life? Now, I recognize that we have a higher responsibility on earth than does my friend the ant, but our resolve is no different. Our trust is no different. We are to trust our Creator no less than the ant.
After all, the ant doesn’t have a personal relationship with the Creator! You and I, through Jesus, do! I’m not going to climb any trees today, but I am going to try and be more dependent on the One who will equip the ant to climb one!
