God Made Ants

I was working out in my chicken yard one day, going to war against the ants. I remember standing in the middle of the yard in frustration about my murderous mission, looking around and grumbling about all the ant piles, and then all of a sudden I thought to myself, “God put a lot of thought into designing an ant.”

In that moment, I wondered why it seemed so absurd to me that God spent time on an ant. But He did. The God of the universe spent time and thought on an ant, and as I stood there in my chicken yard contemplating that, I looked out to my pasture and saw one of my muscular, graceful horses and then I looked down at my feet at the busy little ants and thought, “You put just as much thought and time in one of those beautiful strong horses as you did in one of these piddling little ants.” And the more I thought about that, the more I began to appreciate the fact that we are literally surrounded by God’s testament to us of His character. All of creation speaks of a God Who puts thought and care into the works of His hands.

Paul teaches us that God reveals Himself plainly to us through the works of His own creation, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse” (Rom 1:19,20). David tells us that the heavens tell of His glory and declare the work of His hands-- day to day His creation pours forth speech and offers us knowledge of the God Who created it (Psalm 19:1,2).

God loves His creation and takes no delight in our sorrows or death. His desire is to restore us and to heal us and to bring about the fullness of our redemption. That is His true heart towards us. But God must judge our sin, and He will judge our sin. Ancient Israel was the apple of His eye, the beloved of His heart, but the day finally came that He had to judge them for their sin, because God is just and righteous and we cannot make light of His holiness. We cannot break His laws and spit in His face without repentance and not be held accountable for it. The day will come when we will no longer have the luxury of rejecting His grace. On that day, the door of grace will close and His cup of wrath will overflow and flood the world with His justice.

Whatever the days ahead hold for us, remember to look around you at the work of His hands and contemplate His testament to us. Remember that His heart toward you is for restoration and redemption through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Remember that God taught us about sin at the cost of His own flesh. Remember that Jesus said, “I am the way…” and He showed us the way through His death on a cross, freeing us from the bondage of sin and death and redeeming us through His blood unto eternal life.

(1 Tim 2:3-6) This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at just the right time.

(2 Pet 3:9) The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

(Acts 17:30,31) Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.

(Ezekiel 33:11) Say to them: “As surely as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?”

(Posted on Facebook 11/30/2020 Talitha Koum)