It feels like I haven’t posted any written blog post in a while, mainly because I didn’t have anything to share/anything major to flesh out in words. Some of you know this, but my New Year’s “resolution” or “theme” for this year, is developing a heart of patience. I’ve been so used to have things happening one after another, with little time to think, that when I’m suddenly in quite opposite circumstances, I don’t know exactly how to respond. Recently I heard a message on wisdom, particular stemming from Proverbs and illustrating wisdom through small creatures of the world, it showed me how I should respond:
[30:24] Four things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
[25] the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
[26] the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
[27] the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
[28] the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings’ palaces.
What is wisdom? How does it compare to knowledge? You can be knowledgeable but have no wisdom. Knowledge sets the foundations, but wisdom is true application of that knowledge. The message had an example of a sailor and a boat. It’s one thing to know all the parts of a boat, but something completely different having the wisdom and experience needed to sail through even the toughest storms.
When looking at ants, how specifically are they wise? Reading verse 25 we see that their wisdom comes from properly using the gift of time. How can we learn from an ant?
1. You must know the season you are in
You have to figure out what season of life you’re in, and that will dictate how you are to live. The ant understands different seasons of life, and lives accordingly in preparation of seasons to come.
2. Learn to prepare in the good times for the bad
“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near” Why? It’s because there will be a season where hardened hearts will stay hardened. There are different seasons in both our physical and spiritual lives. We go through ups and downs, and that’s just a reflection of the season we’re in. We have spiritual highs and lows as well as emotional highs and lows. “The wise person will use the good times to prepare and strengthen their faith and their hearts for the low/dark/difficult times.” The ant knows winter is coming, and as such stores up proper nutrition for the journey about to be faced.
There will always be some trouble in our lives. These dark days reveal the depth of our faith: “People in a crisis will have whatever they brought with them. Once you enter a crisis season, there’s no time to go back to your sunshine season and store up faith, strength and promises of God.”
“Pain will either purify or poison your faith, depending on what you have done to prepare for the storm”. Feed your faith, now. “When you find a spark of grace in your heart, kneel down and blow it into a flame”. What is he saying? Sometimes you’ll experience these sparks of faith - when all of a sudden you have that sudden urge to grow closer to God. Those are the times where you have to feed your faith, and ignite it into a flame. That hunger, however small, wasn’t there before, and so you feed it while you can.
3. Use the present to prepare for the future
The ant uses the present time to prepare for their future. You need wisdom, in order to make the best use of time. Do you know what season you’re in and are you preparing yourself for future seasons? For many of us, we’re in a season where the future still holds a lot of mystery and newness. The question we have to ask is, “are we preparing ourselves as best as we can, so that God can use us the best that He can?” Proverbs 6, which also has the theme of the ant present, says:
[6:6] Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
[7] Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
[8] she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
[9] How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
[10] A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
[11] and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
These verses, specifically 9 to 11, are pertinent to our generation today. The speaker was talking about a trend in our generation called “extended adolescence”. Adolescence, according to the WHO, would normally encompass the ages between 10 and 20. It’s supposed to be a transition into adulthood, independence and responsibility. “But this transition is being delayed or not even happening anymore. Some statistics: The average age of a gamer nowadays is 35. 50% of men between the ages of 18 and 35 play games at least 3 hours a day. Some people never leave their parents house, and many are returning, even at the age of 42. Many people are quitting their jobs, and even more are getting fired because of their lack of work ethic. What do they do after? They don’t complain. They move back in with mommy and daddy. They play video games while mommy cooks him lunch and dinner.”
This transition isn’t occurring, because both the children and the parents are clueless on the seasons that they must pass through. “We have people now who are physically aged 25 to 35, but emotionally at 15”. It saddens me that many of these people described above are married and with children. “Getting a girl pregnant doesn’t make you man - a 13 year old can do that. Stepping into your call before God to be a man of integrity and responsibility makes you a man”
This is definitely a wake up call for me (and hopefully others too). Time to shape up. Life’s too short to waste around.
