Friday, September
21, 2018
There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise: Ants—they aren’t strong, but they store up food all summer. Hyraxes—they aren’t powerful, but they make their homes among the rocks. Locusts—they have no king, but they march in formation. Lizards—they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings’ palaces. Proverbs 30:24-28(NLT)
Sometimes it’s easy to miss the
small things – ants, lizards, locusts (well, it’s hard to miss a swarm of
locusts), and hyraxes. Hyraxes? I had to look that one up. It seems the little critter that resembles
your average rodent is more related to an elephant or manatee than Mickey Mouse[2]. They have multichambered stomachs like cows,
for digesting even the toughest plant materials, and their incisor teeth grow
throughout the lifetime like tusks. They
live in the Middle East and Africa in the dry, rocky regions, subsisting in barren
places. You must be unusually wise to
survive in places like that!
The four creatures have wisdom in
common, but what makes them such worthy examples that we should learn from them? Perhaps it’s community cooperation.
Ants
The power of the anthill is
legendary. One ant might be a nuisance,
but his family can end a picnic. I have
seen anthills in Zimbabwe that are more like ant mountains, 10 feet high! One ant might take a lifetime to build a condominium
like that; the cooperating colony can build it faster than Donald Trump can put
up another tower.
Locusts
Well, who hasn’t seen a Nat Geo special
that includes a swarm of locusts denuding the landscape of vegetation. They march (fly) in formation according
to the proverb. They have no king or
ruler, but the community moves together, turns together, and has the same
purpose together…eat! (Methodists have
that last part down to a science!)
Hyraxes
The rock mouse lives in community
and fiercely defends its’ tribe! This kind
of cooperation is called loyalty.
Lizards
The prehistoric lizard finds a
place to survive…desert, mountain, king’s palace or garbage dump; they go about
the business of life. What makes them
unusually wise in this respect is their adaptability to conditions. Lizards, like most species, do not generally
thrive in captivity, but faced with the live or die of harsh challenges
in the wild, they exist everywhere, proliferating, and serving God’s purposes.
Building like ants, moving like
locusts, loyal like hyraxes and unafraid like the lizards – this is the formula
of four kinds of small, but unusually wise groups of
creatures.
I would say that formula also
works for churches and families!
For You Today
Build…don’t tear down.
Move…don’t couch potato.
Be loyal…don’t be a fair-weather sort.
Adapt…there’s more than one way to serve God and each other.
