I have finished the work you have given me to do. John 17:4
In this world of today, it seems there are more and more people feeling insignifcant. Whether it is about our life, our jobs, our relationships, or our situation, it is something that can really bring us down! Insignificance is defined as being too small or unimportant to be worth consideration; without power or influence; meaningless. Who would want to live feeling this way?
Everyone struggles with their purpose sometimes, and it doesn’t help that society imposes certain guidelines that makes us feel insignificant if we don’t meet the criteria. There is nothing that adds to insignificance like the news and social media. We are made to feel so insignifcant in this world, and sometimes we wonder if there will ever be a time when our contributions will make a difference?!
Every summer about this time, we have an unwanted visit from sugar ants who love coming in through the kitchen window and making themselves at home around the sink area. We know they are coming, and we take the usual steps of spraying outside, removing anything attractive, and even setting out the traps, but they are relentless. Nothing seems to deter the marching army.
The Bible encourages us in Proverbs 6:6 to Take a lesson from the ants…learn from their ways and become wise. Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
In researching a little about these ants, it was eye opening to see the lessons that we as Christians can learn from them. The queen ant is the center of attention in a colony and the mother of most of the ants, but she is not the chief ruler or provider. The “soldier”ants do the work, and they are responsible for the survival of the colony. So, the army I see marching in is in reality just soldiers doing the work for which they are responsible. Their work is significant!
The older ants begin each new project by doing the work themselves. The younger ants then imitate the work of their elders and join in the work. There are no supervisors, chiefs, or officers that make them work, they are just self starters and diligent workers. When we see an ant carrying a piece of bread several times bigger than they are up a slope, returning to pick it up if he drops it, and getting it to where it is supposed to be, that’s diligence.
No work is considered menial or beneath his dignity. Whatever the task, he goes along his way merrily doing his job. No work is insignificant. Martin Luther King once said, “Not all men are called to specialized or professional jobs; even fewer to the heights of genius in the arts and sciences; many are called to be laborers in factories, fields, and streets, but no work is insignificant!” If we can just impart this knowledge to generations coming behind us, none of them will have to worry about success, it will be their constant companion.
One thing you can count on with an ant, he always gives his best and pulls his share of the load. That is a quality that is desireable in humans as well. Walt Disney said, “Whatever you do, do it so well that when people see you do it , they’ll want to come back and see you do it, and they’ll want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.”
The ant is a workaholic – he literally dies working. In other words, they never retire. The contemporary concept of retirement can’t be found in the Bible. Yes, we can retire from a job, but we never retire from work. As long as we are alive, there is always work God would have us do. Rest, relaxation, and retirement are worthy and deserved rewards for a life of hard work, but the truth is as long as we are alive, God has something significant for us to do! God has a great track record of taking seemingly insignificant people and things and using them for his glory!
The ants that visit us leave as quickly as they arrive. Their work, whatever it was, is done here and they have moved on to the next job, but the work they did was significant to them. Just like them, not one of us is insignifcant. God takes joy in using ordinary people and ordinary things for extraordinary purposes!